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That Christmas Gala was such a refreshing and encouraging experience to take part in. I actually enjoyed singing my little heart out to popular hymns (a practice not familiar in our church.) I loved eating bread and butter with ginger ale all night due to my general disgust of marinara sauce (it was high quality bread you see,) and getting Rick-rolled by Jake was a pleasant surprise during the S.T.D. (Spontaneous trance dance). I think it was exactly what our fellowship needed. Xenos is such an exciting ministry!

Sunday night was crazy with a random photo shoot in our apartment followed by unwrapping presents and frivalities. Thank you, Mike, for the new Banjo-Kazooie game! The craziest part of the week was yet to come…

Some people may know I am a fan of the major-label rock group, The Black Keys. They are a highly successful band who have connections with many famous producers. In fact, Their album “Attack and Release” reached #15 On Rolling Stone Magazine’s 50 best albums of 2008 list. The group only consists of guitarist/singer Dan Aurbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney. They have even headlined big festivals like lolapalooza and Bonnaroo.

Patrick Carney of the Black Keys

Well, B and I got Best Buy gift certificates for Christmas and we decided to head up to Chapel Hill and waste them on random Best Buy deals. After a quick rendezvous with Joe at Chapel Hill Mall, we traveled over to Best Buy next door. It was there the crazy thing happened…

We were walking down the aisles, looking at this and that, when I recognized THE Patrick Carney of The Black Keys randomly browsing computers next to us. I couldn’t mistake him because I had seen many of their music videos and even saw one of their performances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He had many expensive items in his hand, obviously because he is rich out the anus. After following him around the store for a while, making sure it was really him, Bryan gave me a little nudge and I walked up to him.

“Are you a drummer?” I asked
“uh… yeah.” said Patrick Carney, obviously startled.
“…Drummer for the Black Keys?”
“yeah,” he replied

My excitement culminated at that moment and I told him I appreciated his music and encouraged him to continue his successful musical career. I then realized I needed a picture of this. He said it was OK if B took a picture with his camera phone, but alas! his batteries were too low! Not knowing what else to say, I had to excuse myself and walk away.

But the craziest part was yet to come! Now just tonight I was looking up Patrick Carney on Wikipedia. It told me his father, Jim, was a reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal. Well, this reporter is the same one who is investigating the Xenos cult charges!!!!!!!!!! Jim Carney is his name! This is so crazy because I had just met at the Xenos Christmas Gala the same week!! I met both father and son in the same 3 days and didn’t even realize it!!! How cool would it be if Patrick came around to Xenos?!

Looking back, I see how cool it would have been to be like “hey Pat, I just met your dad the reporter. He’s investigating my church!” That would have been an interesting conversation starter!

Well, this whole Black Keys incident doesn’t really matter much but I thought it interesting. I really just don’t have much else to do now but, while I’m here, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!

totally!

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Five Views on Sanctification

The Five Views on Sanctification presents a wide interpretation of biblical scriptures. None of the views present a 100% accurate depiction of biblical sanctification, but each one contributes to a full understanding. It was moderately confusing trying to pick out the scripture-supported truths about becoming more Christ-like. All five views agree that the bible is authoritative and stresses a faith relationship with the almighty.
The Wesleyan view on sanctification provided much insight into the human condition. I agree fully with his definition of sanctification and how it is progressive. I disagree, however, with his theology of total sanctification being available in this life. Wesley implies that willful sinning can be taken away eventually through sanctification. I infer this from his comment that one’s “bent to sinning” is taken away and the “war within oneself” is over.
The definition of entire sanctification is the entire renewal of oneself in the image of God. This is contradictory because one is still able to fall again because nobody can be absolutely perfect. To understand this, one must have a clear definition of sin. We must distinguish if it is the voluntary disregard for the will of Christ or any act that falls short of God’s glory. David in the book of Psalms clearly defines sin as the latter of the two; Who can discern {his} errors? Acquit me of hidden {faults.} (Ps 19:12). Because David defines sin as any shortcoming of God’s glory, it is impossible for anyone to reach the state of total sanctification in the life.
Sin continues to be a barrier throughout the life of a believer. 1 John 1:8 says If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. The conclusion here is that sin continues to be a barrier throughout our life and we must be sanctified through a continuous process.
The Reformed view denies the teaching of total sanctification. Sanctification in this view is possible through union with Christ. This is made possible by the truth presented in his word and faith in him; faith that he died on the cross for our debt, sin no longer has mastery over us and the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome sin and live for God. Faith is an operative power that produces fruit and enables us to love, which is the goal of our instruction (1 Tim 1:3). Faith is energized by loving others and forming relationships. Sanctification is a process by which we must be active. Not that God has a role and we have a role, rather, we work because God works.
One point the reformed view stumbles upon is the issue of pre-chosen believers. Traditional Calvinists believe people are chosen by God to be saved. If this were true, the need for overseas missions would be eradicated. Calvinists would then say; God will find a way to expose them to the gospel because they are already chosen to receive it. I must reject this notion because the verse is describing believers chosen based on the foreknowledge of Christ. He knew the choice anyone would make and based his plan off that.
The importance of keeping the law seems to be held above loving others in this view. Hoekema states that in order to fulfill the law, one must love, as if the goal is to fulfill the law. Rather we should make the goal loving others, and that subsequently fulfills the law.
The Pentacostal view also stresses sanctification through progression. They also hold the belief of positional regeneration. One’s position is either saved or unsaved, and one can work from there. One belief Pentecostals hold is that we can be entirely sanctified but not absolutely perfect. The indication here is that we can achieve relative perfection in this life. The problem here is the standard of perfection is lowered. There are now different degrees of perfection one can achieve. The distinction to be made is we are either perfect or we are not. God is the standard of perfection that no man can live by.
Pentecostals stress the importance of a second experience that comes after regeneration. This second experience involves baptism into the Holy Spirit and the evidence of speaking in tongues. This is needed in order to be filled with the spirit. This conclusion has no support in the bible. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul explains tongues is a gift given to a few, but not all Christians. This would mean that only a small portion of the Christian community can participate in this second experience! Paul also explains Tongues is not an important gift to have. If it was as important as the Pentecostal view makes it, Paul would have stressed it more heavily. The main issue with this view is the lack of scriptural support for its claims.
The Keswick View offers an excellent point about today’s culture. Christian spirituality is weak in the modern day church. The average Christian family is no different than an uptight non-Christian household. Most churches are centered around convenience for its members. They try to shove God into one part of the week that is convenient for them and place no importance on his kingdom. Keswick offers a solution to this issue.
This view is not doctrinal and has a wide use in many denominations. I have used much of this material, such as five means of growth, in my teachings. The biggest problem I have with this view is its self-focused five-day rehab guide. This guide is all about serving your own needs and not the needs of others. It is almost like a Christian diet. While the content is indeed refreshing and righteous, it is very me-centered. By taking the Love Ethics course, I was able to identify the selfish way the material was presented. Loving others was not a priority.
Like the Reformed view, the Augustinian-Dispensationalist view agrees that Born-again Christians are new creatures. While we are not yet totally new, we are genuinely new, and sin no longer keeps us in bondage. As new creatures, we still experience a tendency to sin, which is called our “flesh” according to Ephesians 2:3.
Our position of regenerated eternal creatures is an irreversible one that does not mean perfection right away. It is very obvious someone is saved when we can see the spirit working inside them. That is to say, they are spiritually empowered, and the Lord is using them to accomplish his will. Not all Christians are filled with the spirit. Those are the people who are not fruitful in ministry.
In conclusion, sanctification is a process by which we are made more like Christ. It is an ongoing process that finishes with glorification. The most important aspect that should be stressed is love relationships with Christ and others. That is the ultimate goal of this process. By becoming more Christ-like, we are becoming more successful in love.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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