So Dark the Con of Man

Quote of the Week: "Evolution is a fact of life, and the rest of the world needs to learn to deal with it." - Ted Daeschler

Isn't this tired? Don't "scientists" have anything else to do but keep trying to prove a ridiculous theory that Darwin himself said wasn't valid!? (I'm still looking for that quote) The fact is, for one to believe Creation he must believe that God is in sovereign control of the universe, thus submitting himself to God's will and authority for God's glory. While we know from scripture that sinful man will continually refuse to do so, he's required to fabricate some kind of alternative belief system that inevitably lacks factual credibility. What do we learn from this? God reigns, so let's pray that He would make our hearts more open to His correction of our flawed minds, so that His Word would be proclaimed even more, despite our natural inclination towards "cosmic rebellion" (Sproul). Sola fide.

Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!" He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. (Psalm 2:1-4)

Quote of the Day: "I believe we're an America that should come together; Republican, Democrat, and John McCain." - President Bush

An Evening With Shane and Shane

Yes, they are my fav, and the concert was free y'all! Thanks to the Shanes and the Master's College for puting it on, praise God! Listen to Shane and Shane here!

For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:16-18)

News from the Pit

In his 1983 autobiography, Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era, the sci-fi writer Lloyd Eshbach describes meeting Hubbard in the late 1940s. "I'd like to start a religion," Eshbach recalls Hubbard saying. "That's where the money is."

Despite what some may think, I do read quite a bit. Not necessarily novels or poetry, but there isn't more that I enjoy doing than reading various articles and tidbits relating to things that matter to me, such as religion, politics, theology (kinda the same as religion huh?) and anything relating to people and different cultures all over the world. Given the nature of our clock-driven culture here in the States, and the unwillingness of most of us (including myself) to blindly take someone's word on an article that might take 15-20 minutes to read, I hesitated to write this post in the first place. Saying that, I feel compelled to ask, invite, beg, plead, grovel, or any combination of these for any and all of you to read an article in the most recent edition of Rolling Stone© magazine. The article is an extremely detailed yet VERY interesting and accurate look at the world of L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology©. The article, written by one of Rolling Stone's lead editors takes an inside look at the world's fastest growing cult and is saturated in first hand information from both former and current members. This expose takes a deep look at not only the effects of this religion on individuals, but the latent sytem of lies and brainwashing that has snagged folks such as Tom Cruise, Jon Travolta, and dozens of other celebrities, along with an estimated 10 million people worldwide. Again, for those of you who have no interest whatsoever in this subject, this article could change you. For those of you who, like me, find it fascinating that one man's science fiction has created a 10 million member church, this is what we've been waiting for! Thanks for coming to my blog, you can find the article here...

P.S. Yes I know it's long, but it goes fast and reading the whole thing will give you the "big picture."

Ironic? I'll say!

I found this today...

"News : Paris Hilton Eyed for Mother Teresa Role
Tuesday Apr 04, 2006 7:45am EST By Stephen M. Silverman

Film director T. Rajeevnath, who is based in Thiruvananthapuram, India, says Hilton is on his short list to play Mother Teresa in a biopic he's planning about the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who worked among Calcutta's poor with the Missionaries of Charity.

"(Hilton's) features resemble Mother Teresa's," Rajeevnath – whose films include Janani (Mother), an award-winner in India about nuns caring for an abandoned infant – told Agence France-Presse yesterday.

"A meeting with Paris Hilton is scheduled for the end of April," he said.

Rajeevnath said he stumbled upon the casting idea when he saw a computer-generated image showing what he considers a close facial resemblance between the 25-year-old hotel heiress and the Albanian-born nun, who died in 1997. Pope John Paul beatified Mother Teresa in 2003.

The director told the Indo-Asian News Service he was first impressed by Hilton when he read an article in which she said she'd refused to pose nude for Playboy.

Still, Hilton's casting is not a slam dunk. "Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen," Rajeevnath said.

Indian press reports say the movie will be in English, and shooting in West Bengal and several other countries is scheduled to begin in early 2007, with proceeds benefiting the Missionaries of Charity."

Of all people to choose to play a nun; not to mention the most widely recognized nun in the world! How incredibly ironic.

Let's Get It Started!

I'll post more when it gets a little more interesting, but if I here that anyone is not tuned into CBS tonight... haha, in the words of Mr. March Madness himself, "this is gonna be awesome baby! I like to call it the three S's, Soopa Sensalating Sensational!" Thanks Dickie V, it's gonna be a good one!

Why Don't We Get Our Priorities Straight?

Apparently the big news on ESPN this morning has been Vince Young's low score on the first IQ test he was given at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. According to some reports, after a second assessment Young score significantly higher. As much as my two cents is worth, since when did we assess NFL players on IQ tests? And that's not even considering the reality that everyone can have a bad test at times. I'll say this, Vince Young has spent 3 years now at the University of Texas, ranked by the Princeton Review as one of the top 10 schools in America, and by one London company as the number six university in the world. Point being: Vince isn't a dummy. Considering the combine is supposed to judge a player's potential to succeed on the football field, and not in a nuclear physics lab, I agree with one ESPN analyst in saying, "at the end of the day, the only score most NFL teams will care about is 41-38." Hook 'Em Horns!

When Faith is Not Enough

Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated, "The faith that stands on authority is not faith." Since I finished my Comparative Religions class last semester, and I begin preparing for the coming semester of ministry at Grace Church and Lord providing on campus at COC, there seems to me to be a growing trend that has creeped even into the subconscious of mainstream Christianity. I call it a trend because it is something that I have only come to understand in the past year or so, yet I'm quite confident it has existed since the Protestant Reformation or longer. For simplicity sake, I like to call this false doctrine, "Peripheral Christianity." In Paul's letter to the Romans he begins by encouraging them, "I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world" (Romans 1:8). Paul also goes on to write, "For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you-that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith" (Romans 1:11-12). Also in the second chapter of Ephesians we see that it is by God's grace through faith that we become children of God because of Christ's payment for our sin. It is indisputable that faith is not only critical, but undoubtedly required in the heart of a true believer. While this reality poses no threat to what we understand to be Biblical Christianity, for this truth is nothing new, I do believe there to be a misunderstanding in the minds of many professing Christians in the world today regarding the nature of this faith and the role it plays in life and salvation. During a heated debate between a large portion of the students in my Philosophy/Comparative Religions class last semester, one student emphatically proclaimed to me that I had "absolutely no authority to consider one person's faith over another," as she said, "faith is faith, it's all the same, right?" Though this statement may seem instantly outrageous to most of the people who are reading this now, I'm afraid this theology lingers both consciously and even more subconsciously in the hearts of MOST of the world. While at first glance this doctrine could appear as trademark postmodernism, it's actually worse than that. To most folks this pluralistic theology is not grounded in secular academia, but in the Bible. When one proclaims, "I have faith in Jesus," what is the focus of that statement? In elementary school we learned about subjects, verbs, and direct and indirect objects. When making this statement, ask yourself, "What exactly is the subject that I'm referring to?" Are we merely stating that we have faith? Or is it the focus of that faith that is important? When referring to salvation through faith in Jesus, it is not merely the faith itself we speak about but it is that which we have faith in that defines it. In the original statement, if we take away "faith," Jesus is still the same, yet if we remove Jesus we're merely left with an open-ended question. What exactly is your faith in? By answering this question we'll be able to understand more clearly what it is we believe, and on what foundation is planted the rest of our theology. The popular view today is to merely have faith, setting the focus in the peripheral subject of faith itself rather than the target of it. While Emerson's faith was obviously grounded in himself, as Christians our faith MUST be grounded in the gospel of Christ, found in the authoritative and inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Again, while this concept of directed faith might seem basic and even silly to most of us who read this, let's remember that many of the people we speak to every day might not be as theologically sound or spiritually mature as we THINK we are. Keeping that in mind, let's all "come boldly before the throne of grace" and aim ourselves constantly at the cross, as we know the cross was first aimed at us.



"Saving faith is an immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, resting upon Him alone, for justification, sanctification, and eternal life by virtue of God's grace." - C.H. Spurgeon

P.S. If anyone is wondering why I didn't post about Resolved 06, there are two reasons. 1) I've been speechless since it started 2) Rick pretty much nailed it in last week's 'Mix' (see sidebar). Thanks always!

Simply Ridiculous

Kobe Bryant making history. Tonight against the Toronto Raptors Kobe Bryant put up 81, yes that's right, 81 points... BY HIMSELF. All I have to say is I'm glad it wasn't against the Rockets!

In-Vince-able!

Merry Christmas!

I love this tree every year... but every time I hear the Christmas story it makes me love Jesus more. Thankfully I don't believe this will ever stop! Merry Christmas, hope everyone had a great time worshipping our amazing Savior! Soli deo Gloria = )

Congrats Rudy!

Who said you have to be dumb to play football? Mind you this is a student at arguably the biggest party school in the South, maybe the nation, and he's graduating with a 4.0 GPA. Great job Rudy for keeping your focus!

#5

Congratulations to the newest inductee into the Heisman fraternity, Reggie Bush! As most coaches affectionately (and some maybe not so affectionately) refer to "#5," Reggie truly deserves the Heisman trophy. I still believe Vince Young and Matt Leinart can both make a VERY strong case for the award, but clearly 784 qualified voters named Reggie Bush the best player in college football. And if he would stay at USC I'd be willing to bet he could join Archie Griffin in the exclusive two-timers' club. Though I'd like to see Vince and the Horns pull the upset on January 4th, it's going to be an absolute landmark day in the history of college football, regardless of who wins. No team has ever had two Heisman winners play on the same team in one game, and in my opinion that will probably never happen again. For those of you who aren't necessarily football fans, I recommend tuning in to ABC on January 4th, at least so you can tell your grandkids someday, "I watched Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush play against Vince Young for the BCS National Championship!" This match-up has to the potential to be one of the best games ever, and I'm getting the jitters just thinking about it! Seeing Traveller run out on the field and spike the sword in the endzone, Bevo standing on the sideline, the cannon and big bertha taking their turn through the tunnel... this game will be exciting to say the least, and if it's even half of what it's hyped up to be, it will be an instant classic. Thanks again for reading, I hope y'all have a great week!

Too Close to Call

Maybe it's just me, but considering that all votes are not due until tomorrow (Dec. 8) and this is considered one of the closest Heisman races in the history of NCAA Football, is it possible that Reebok got a little ahead of themselves here?

I love Reggie Bush, but if I had a vote I wouldn't blink before casting mine for 'Horns QB Vince Young who, don't get me started, would win the Heisman at Running Back OR Quarterback. Needless to say he's basically the best on his team at both. Thanks Reebok for continuing to be a premier capitalistic model of supply & demand, but I truly hope these shirts end up on a 50 cent sale rack in Somalia. You think they can say, "Fight On?!"

I Got Picked

my uncle tagged me, so here we go...

Seven things to do before I die (in no particular order):

1. Go to a BCS National Championship Game that LSU is playing in.
2. Climb Half-dome, again.
3. Sky dive
4. Go to the UK (play golf in Scotland)
5. Tee it up with Dr. MacArthur.
6. Go to Australia.
7. Cliff dive.

Seven things I cannot do:

1. Afford Master's College
2. Enjoy Asparagus
3. Turn down watching college football
4. Say anything nice about Auburn
5. See Arminianism as a valid position
6. Not want to live in Louisiana
7. Disagree with John MacArthur

Seven things that [will] attract me to my spouse:

1. Her amazing beauty in every way
2. Her resolve to be the most like Christ she can imagine
3. Her love for our family
4. Her desire for our growth for the supremecy of Christ
5. Her honesty of her own inability and dependence on the cross
6. Liking me, even when I'm absolutely unlikable
7. She will be from the South, what's not to like?

Seven things I say most often:

1. "haha, that's funny"
2. "wait"
3. "riiiiiiight"
4. "the reality remains the same..."
5. "Geaux Tigers!"
6. "you're kidding, right?"
7. "I'm sorry!"

Seven books (or series) I love:

1. Cross-Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney
2. Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth
3. Complete Works of Jonathan Edwards
4. Band of Brothers
5. Think Biblically!
6. The Pastor in Prayer (Spurgeon)
7. Why One Way? by John MacArthur

Seven movies I would watch over and over again:

1. The Bourne Series
2. Gladiator
3. Notting Hill
4. Luther
5. Entrapment
6. Batman Begins
7. Mission Impossible (the first one)

Seven people I want to join in, too:

1. Chris Tan
2. Joanne
3. Kelly Hermann
4. Andrew
5. Pastor Rick
6. Justin
7. Peter

Coming Soon!

About my trip to Tampa, FL for the 1st Annual Brandon Biblical Theology Conference... Coming Soon!

- Morgan

No Place Like Home

I'm posting this VERY quickly as I'm about to board flight 206 to Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL, while currently I'm in the amazing city of Houston, TX. As many of you know this is where I'm from and lived until moving to SoCal 4 1/2 years ago. I just called my parents and we all agreed... though I love California, I love my church, my school, my friends, the weather, and so many other things, this place I'm in will never NOT be home. The clearest sign to what was in my heart occured when I walked out of the terminal and I saw a sign that read, "Welcome to Texas," followed by another that I don't think coincidentally read, "Welcome Home." Have a great day y'all! Colossians 3:1-2

Somebody Else's Turn, Finally!

Congratulations USC on the time that it was yours, but welcome to life as #2... hope it was fun while it lasted! Hook 'em Horns!

Armani vs. Gotti

This can hardly be considered a post, but as NBA Commissioner David Stern announced this week that the NBA will entertain the idea of a "business-casual" dresscode that all players, coaches, and owners will have to adhere to, I wanted to get y'alls thoughts on the issue. Though there are tons of supporters and critics of the proposed policy, reality is professional athletes are inevitably viewed as examples and placed as social role models for millions across the world. So tell me this... who would you rather your kids look up to?

Nirvana-Shmana

Considering how long it's been since I've posted, I'm not surprised if many of you think it's because I have nothing to write about! The reality is I've had about 10 million and 1 things that I could talk about, and thus couldn't write an entire post about one without rabbit-trailing off into the others. Maybe that's just an easy copout, but as I once again left my Philosophy 220: Intro to Comparative Religion class tonight, I couldn't help but share what has been on my heart and mind. Tonight was Buddhism lecture #2, and we didn't learn much more about the religion itself anymore than we did last week. Though I'm confident my professor would summarily drop me if he knew I was about to try to dump 6 1/2 hours of lecture into a brief nutshell, it seems to me that Buddhism can essentially be summed up this way: Life is a mass jumble of random action-reaction involving human beings obtaining either good or bad karma, ultimately with the goal of being knocked off the wheel of reincarnation which is to reach Pari-Nirvana. Although, because everything is in a perpetual state of change, nothing has essential identity, therefore nothing truly exists, only pain and suffering. Therefore, there really is no desk, there is no tree... there is no you, and there is no me. Inevitably, it begs the question... what's the point?! Towards the end of class my friends Matt, Anna, Tyler and myself enjoyed a conversation through a series of scribble notes, ultimately concluding this: for man to make an excuse NOT to worship the true and living God he must come up with an alternative. Because God is essentially Truth (John 1:1), for man to abandon God he must abandon Truth. I realized tonight that this incredibly simple reality shines a huge light on the nature of my pre-salvation wicked heart, in that though this truth is so clear and simple, we can't see it when we're DEAD in sin and natural rebellion against our Creator! (Eph. 2:1-3). It's absolutely staggering to me to face the fact as one who has been transformed through the work of my Savior at Calvary, and being sanctified by the Spirit working through the Word, that even heresy points my heart to the cross. As I said to my dad tonight, it's essentially irrelevant whether I hear a sermon affirming Biblical Truth, or a false prophet preaching error, God still grows my heart more in tune with His precious good news in the Scripture. I've said this before, but listening to these lectures on Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and even Roman Catholicism and Islam, ALL remind me of a precious Master who grows me in God-exalting, Truth-based, Holiness-centered Theology that crushes hopeless and empty religious systems that all crash into the same dead end. Praise be to the Most High, all glory and majesty be unto His Name!

"For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God" (Romans 4:2).