Jesse is right on!

Christians should do there best to be educated and articulate, being salt and light to all parts of society.

Another quote from my history text, this time about the Society of Jesus in the mid-1500s:

"Ignatius [the founder of the Jesuits] required that members of the society, known as Jesuits, complete a rigorous and advanced education. They receive instruction not only in theology and philosophy but also in classical languages, literature, history, and science. As a result of this preparation - and their unswerving dedication to the Roman Catholic church - the Jesuits made extraordinarily effective missionaries. They were able to out arguie most of their opponents and acquired a reputation for discipline and determination. They often served as counselors to kings and rulers..."

This is what today's church need! God's body needs people who are as dedicated to God as the Jesuits were to the Roman Catholic Church. We need people who are willing not just to go to foreign countries, but to take the time and make the effort to prepare themselves and become effective missionaries. Most people of this world are unwilling to listen to the uneducated, and believe it or not, the lack of an education (though not considered to be important to some) can create an impermeable barrier between the missionary and those in need.

If you really wanted it, you would walk four and a half blocks away and dance like a turtle that's stuck upside down on it's back and can't flip over. If you didn't really want it, you would cut it in half and sell it to two different people, because then you could make a profit and run away to Cuba.

Teen Girl Squad 4!

Don't live in ignorance anymore.

That old joke about the blind woman who answered the hot iron won't seem so funny when you're hospitalized after talking on one for 45 minutes.

So I'm thinking about this "legislating morality" issue, and I think I'm opposed to the concept of making people behave "Christian" because it's the law. But when you take it one step past that, all law is an attempt for society to agree upon, and therefore legislate, that which is moral.

Law is defined as "A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority."

Morality is defined as "A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct."

We are looking at the same thing here. So what is a Christians role in working towards an agreed upon framework for right living as a whole society?

(Now I'm going to go burn Thomas Edison in effigy. Wicky-wicky.)

Jeff, when you post a link, remember to put "http://" at the beginning of the link, or else it doesn't work. That trailer rocked though.

There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

top 10 ways the amish party

10. Wet bonnet contest.
9. Chug maple syrup until you blow chunks.
8. Cram as many dudes as you can find into a buggy.
7. Buttermilk kegger.
6. Burn past the square dance on a seriously rad Clydesdale.
5. Sleep until 6 a.m.
4. Churn butter in the nude.
3. Consort with the witches off of the cover of a discarded "Which Witch?" game.
2. Squeeze cats to make the "wicky-wicky" sound like rap DJs.
1. Burn Thomas Edison in effigy.

Check out this trailer for the new Benny Hinn DVD: www.thedoormagazine.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/hinn2.wvx

Often I ponder the meanings of life, religion, and the scientific theory of space and time and I've come to the conclusion that, whoa, wait a sec, I just realized how much I like cheese!

the mennonite statement is not perfect... it needed more work, but as I understand it, didn't have time to go through the whole thought process.

98% of the thing is good. - we need to acknowledge that

Can/should we legislate morality? What did Jesus have to say about the Law? How far does that go?

I believe it is best to not legislate morality as long as it is personal... for example censorship or things with consenting adults... something like that. BUT when it comes to affecting someone else, (like killing them) well then I think we should have some laws against it.

I suggest that the mennonite statement is flawed, and probably not intentionally flawed as much as sloppily flawed due to the lack of time.

I just read the whole thing here
http://www.mennoniteusa.org/NewItems/delegates/statement_abortion.pdf

I agree with about 157 out of 160 lines...and I was actually surprized how thoughtful and not typical Christian. It addresses hard questions and doesn't necissarily give all the answers. I particularly liked the one section

"Human life begins at conception. We agree that any attempt to define the beginning of humanness at a point along the spectrum of development is a mistake, tempting as it may be."

I've been asking myself that question for a while... when do we become human? (different from animals) This statement assures me that it is too hard a question to answer. I guess I can live with that - although my mind would like a more concrete answer.

this would be a good discussion for my bible study I think... We could study the scriptures and see what the bible says on all this stuff...

so jamie, are you asking for people to reply to your blog comment? Are you starting a conversation or debate or what? Maybe we should ask permission from the blog nazi first.

Dude! I just bought a book that has articles from The Onion for the past 100 years. It's awesome.