Kyle's Creative Counter-Arguments

—–As I ventured out in my quest to become familiar with the vast diversity of church eschatology, an obvious place to visit came to mind. Hudson Community Chapel is one of the largest evangelical mega churches in our area. Their ministry spheres extend as far as Kent State and Akron University, and their presence in Stow High School is very prominent. It is impossible not to stare slack-jawed the monolithic chapel constructed at the end of Tarex Road. It is easy to imagine the building as a fortress or a castle that guards against the depraved world in which it stands. Surely it could withstand an invasion of evil pagans as they attack and try to convert the minds of their precious children.
—–I, with a panel of the wisest judges I could find, went forth to investigate the secret to their success. What makes Hudson Community Chapel so appealing to so many people, and why do so many friends I know from high school attend? When I arrived with my fellow CBS and Word cohorts, I immediately felt out of place. As I looked around we saw people with the most extravagant and beautiful dress clothes I have ever seen. There were bright flowery dresses that exploded in color and men with tuxedos and incredibly expensive and vibrant polos. Yet I walked proudly in the huge double doors with my cheap Jesus Revolution T-shirt and noticed how nearly everyone stared at it and contemplated the meaning of rEVOLution with the emphasis on Love. It truly stood out as I strode through the wide atrium.
—–It felt very awkward standing there as we were basically left alone by the members of Hudson Community Chapel. It was hardly a welcoming environment but when I think of the thousands of people who attend the church I can understand how it is easy to be passed off as a member or, looking as we did, a ragtag group of scoffers. I noticed a few people I knew from high school and waved as I saw them walk by. It seemed they were almost embarrassed to be caught attending church service and they largely ignored me. Since when has Christ become something to be ashamed of? 2 Timothy 2:15 says “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” It is amazing how many self proclaimed Christians there are in high school and college who are not excited by their faith and the revolution that Christ came to spread. They have instead settled for a compromised life that includes appeasing the Lord through their outward appearance and regular Sunday morning service attendance.
—–We approached the information desk and learned about the two simultaneous services offered at that time. One is located in the sanctuary where the adults and parents with their small children attend to see the preacher in front of his pulpit. There, a more traditional worship service is held catering to the needs of the adults. The other service is held in a smaller room on the other side of the atrium that is designed to meet the needs of the high school and young adult members. A video stream of the sermon in the sanctuary is broadcasted in the young adult room. This service also features more contemporary Christian music and comfortable cushioned chairs. We decided to get the full feel of the Hudson Community Chapel church service and attended the main session in the sanctuary.
—–We walked in and I was immediately struck by the grandeur of the room. It featured a high decorated ceiling with glittering gold ornaments that sparkled with the reflection of the stage lights. The stage itself was highly ornamented and had beautiful carpeting. Most surprising of all was rows of gold painted pews! It had been a very long time since I had sat in a pew and as we found places near the front of the stage it felt strangely reminiscent of my grandma’s Methodist church in Mansfield that I would sometimes attend as a young boy. The difference is there I would have to sit in hard wooden pews for hours on end, but here the pews featured nice red cushions that were not altogether uncomfortable, though a cushion for my back would have been ideal. This seemingly defeats the purpose of even having pews since having cushioned chairs would be cheaper and more comfortable but certainly out of place in the majestic-looking sanctuary.
—–After a half hour of worship, which was more exciting than I’ve seen in many other places due to the energized crowd, an elderly African-American clergyman took the stage to make announcements and pray for specific members of the church who were suffering. We were then treated to a most excellent sermon delivered by lead pastor Joe Coffey. Mr. Coffey (haha) was full of the spirit and taught with great emotion and enthusiasm. He is without a doubt a very gifted teacher, and he seemed excited about the good news of Christ. His teaching was about how we must depend on the Lord for everything and how relieving it is to be able to lay our burdens at his feet. Jesus himself says in Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. [29] “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.”
—–The sermon concluded with a musical number from the band as everyone exited the room. It was quite astonishing watching how hardly anyone stayed back to chat but instead fled to their cars to continue their busy lives. Within 15 minutes the building was relatively empty save for the staff. We decided we needed more information about the church and we headed back to the information desk to talk to the very helpful woman from before. She ended up being the only member of Hudson Community Chapel to speak a word to us. She had a kind heart and was overjoyed to have a bunch of college students curious about her church so she showed us around a little bit and gave us some literature explaining their mission.
—–I was convinced by the sermon and the literature that they are truly a living breathing manifestation of the Body of Christ. The problem was that I did not see this in the people. Luke 11:33 says “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar, nor under a peck-measure, but on the lampstand, in order that those who enter may see the light.” The students I know from school who attend this church do not have a fire in their hearts for Christ and they do not talk about their faith to their friends. They leave the hard work of outreach to the elite members of the staff. One member of the panel of judges I brought with me was a brand new Christian who was saved from the depraved world the Devil owns. For people like him it would be just as effective as keeping a sign on the front door that says “stay away ye heathen sinners! Ye have been warned!” The tragedy is that they are not saving their kids and they are not safe. As members of the Body of Christ we cannot afford to live comfortable compromised lives. The time has come to fight or fade away.

Additional Information

Love is in the air. Girls are primming up for what they hope to be the highlight of their high school careers. Beauty shops across the country explode with business from a year of girls striving for that ideal look. Boys are thinking of the perfect way to flaunt their cash as if it has no end.
Of course, everyone knows you MUST go to prom. That is a given. There must be something wrong with the one who chooses differently. Pressure for one to find a date, any date, is almost insurmountable. pressure not only from the school and fellow peers, but from parents, as if their kid getting smashed, gettin’ low on the dance floor, and getting laid afterwards is a positive reflection of their parenting. Today, Social society’s rules command complete and mindless obedience.

rule 1: If you miss prom, you are a social outcast. You don’t want to be a reject do you?

rule 2: nothing is too expensive on prom night. Dazzle your date fine dining and exotic flowers. Don’t forget the limo!

rule 3: get laid!

Prom promises endless fun and stimulation, followed by cherished and fond memories. I have yet to meet the one who flaunts their prom pictures as if they are something to be proud of. Most stories I hear are either extremely debauched or embarrassing. Are such things really worth the hundreds of dollars people invest? It seems at the end of the day, the one with the biggest savings is the one who got the most from their prom night. As far as outreach goes, who will want to do anything with Body of Christ when they have all the stimulation they could want within arm’s reach?

Personally, i would rather spend an evening spiritually edifying with my freshmen, sophomore and junior brothers and sisters.

I don’t mean to preach, but I think it fair people hear the other side of the argument.

Additional Information

1st period… The most boring class of the day starts at 7:30 AM and seems to take eons to finish. I did not expect much from my psychology class that morning, but that was before my world got flipped upside down. It started out as normal as ever except the girl in front of me was wearing nothing but a bra and panties. weird, yes, but i did not think much of it at the time. She is not one who I am particularly interested in.

I tried doing some vocabulary while bra and panty girl stared at me with keen interest when a very small freshman boy walked in the class with a note. It was a pink slip meaning a student was either in serious trouble or he had an excuse to leave school. The tiny kid headed straight for me and dropped the note on my desk then quickly fled the classroom with a nervous look on his face. Acording to the note, I was to report to the office immediately. it took only a moment or two to gather my things and exit the room. Bra-and-panty girl’s gaze was starting to bug me, so I was grateful for the chance to leave. If only I had known what heart-breaking knowledge awaited me at the office, I surely would not have been in such a hurry to leave.

As I was making my way across the commons to the office, i noticed all my friends grouped together at a lunch table. instead of greeting me with friendly gestures, they just stared at me glumly and shook their heads as if I were a death row inmate making my last march down the cell block to my execution. They must have known something I did not.

I finally reached the office and saw my father waiting for me there with a solemn expression marking his weathered face. “son,” he said, “We need to talk.”

“alright,” I said, now getting worried.

He took me off to the side and spoke to me. “I have been keeping this knowledge from you long enough,” he said, “It is time you heard it.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked

“I’ll get straight to the point. You are a schizophrenic.” He said with a coldness that chilled my heart.

“No way, that is just impossible,” I said with defiance, “I think I would know something like that!”

“No you do not,” he said, “You hallucinate and commit very violent acts and say demonic things. When you wake from these hallucinations you seem not to know it happened, but I assure you, this is all very true.”

It felt as if an arrow of sorrow just pierced my heart. tears were streaming down my cheeks. I could not believe the things I was hearing. All at once my father started to fade away. Existence Started evaporating.

Swirling masses of purple nebula clouded my vision as I reached desperately through the gloom. There are people screaming and classical music playing in the background. At once the nebula began to recede and my vision cleared, and my cold and dark basement came into focus. Never have I woken up to such terror and confusion in my whole life. I looked over and see Bryan sleeping soundly on the couch next to mine. The classical music CD that we put in to sooth us was still playing on his computer. I also noticed the television was on and people were indeed screaming on some spaghetti western film that was on. I was still in a state of shock at having been woken up in such a fashion.

At once I recieved this overwhelming sense of time slipping away. I felt i was late for work even though it was still dark outside and I did not go in until 10 AM. But tinking irrationally, I jumped out of bed and turned off the TV. I then shut off Bryan’s computer and ran upstairs. I saw my father typing away on his laptop. I glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw that it was only 5:30 in the morning. I still could not remember what time I was supposed to be up by so I was not immediately relieved. Dad asked me what was going on, but I really did not know. I just mumbled something and went downstairs and tried to get back to sleep. After 30 minutes of trying to calm myself down, I was finally able to slip off into the world of the abyss.

I woke up periodically every 30 minutes after that. each time was because of a new nightmare I had. It was a very rough night indeed. Why did this happen? I have many guesses.

It is possible that my body is sensitive to the change of season. That night the temperature decreased dramatically and the weather was much different. Fall is almost here, and it may be no coincidence that I seem to always have these kind of fitful nights when the atmosphere changes.

My second guess is that mom switched my cold tablets with LSD pills to induce a night of many hallucinations as a comical joke. i knew my mom had a sense of humor!

but since my mom really loves me and is pretty awesome, I do not believe she would do such a thing. Perhaps my strange behavior was just due to the fact I was recovering from an intense cold. I really do not believe any of these theories, the truth most likely has to do with the kind of person I am.

Since I have trouble communicating my emotions when I am around people, they tend to culminate in my dreams. I have frequent terrible nightmares every week. In one sense it is kind of fun because i never know what I will dream up next. In another sense it is cary because I do not know if I will wake up in the middle of the night in a state of panic and confusion. It would be nice to have more decent sleeps at night, any bump in the nigh could wake me up because I am a light sleeper.

It just goes to show that when you hold back emotion and let it settle, terrible things happen. it is good and rightious to be able to vent your anger and frustration or sadness in a constructive way. It is ultimately self-destructive bottling up these kinds of feelings. It reminds me of what Jon wrote about in his blog about his insomnia. Maybe this is why you have trouble getting to sleep Jon! Just vent out some of your bottles-up emotion! Just writing this makes me feel much better. Maybe tonight I will dream of being in heaven with Christ, or even better, an all-night make-out session with Pamela Anderson!

Additional Information

“You’re on my mind every day and every night,” say one of my favorite bands, the Super Furry Animals. Starting a blog has been on my mind for a very long time. People asked for it, and here I am kindly providing an output for my creative genius to benefit all. I will turn your mind into shit. Just look at what I have to say and if you think about it, it will reveal more than you expect.

Is what I have to say really that important? probably not, but I will make you wonder. I do have a few things on my mind I would like to tell all of my readers. Will you listen? I dare you

I have just finished reading Stephen King’s best work of fiction he has ever written, The Dark Tower. It is a mind-blowing series of epic proportions that rivals Lord of the Rings in my opinion. It took me nearly 3 months to read this long 7-book series. Every book is monumentally different from each of the others. The opening sentence in the first book, The Gunslinger, is intriguing in itself. It reads “The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.” Not a very long sentence, but an interesting one. Just reading that already has you wondering and wanting more. The rest of the book surely provides that. Riddled with violence, romance, mystery, and suspense, The Gunslinger provides for an excellent work-out of the imagination. It had me thinking myself into a frenzy. the end had me begging for more.

The rest of the series provides lots of answers to questions posed in the first book. What i learned in the second book completely threw me for a loop and had me second-guessing Stephen King’s sanity. The sort of things he wrote about would be completely out of the question for most writers. here is no doubt King has a wonderfully vibrant imagination. i do not want to expose what happens in the rest of the series until my readers have had a chance to complete The Gunslinger. But if you enjoy entering the world of fantasy, I would urge you to read The Dark Tower. Let me just tell you the end of the last book had me drowning in my own tears. My mother did not like the ending, whereas I absolutely loved it. But she is definitely a fan of the “everyone lived happily ever after” ending. This is not so with The Dark Tower, but the series is a must-read.

Additional Information