Hair, Retainers, and The Little Drummer Boy

A lot been on my mind lately. Yet, when I sat down to write about it (such as now), I can't simply regurgitate the thoughts and form sentences.

Bleh.

Today, I attended the "Ladies' Christmas Tea" at my church. It is a local outreach where the females at our church can bring their lady friends for 2 hours of tea and scones and little finger sandwiches. You're probably wondering why I "attended" such an event. Well I went there to help out with whatever was needed. And what was needed was to watch the water boil and pour it into the container in where the servers would get the hot water. I only had to do it once.

I hung out with my friend Zack mostly, but this kid named John showed up a couple times to mock me because he's a big jerk.

Ha. Kidding.

Time passed, and after the tea finished, we (Zack, my other friend Noah, and I) were put to hard labor which consisted of moving presents with nothing in them, red flowers, cords, and mic stands. We were also commanded to move a piano. But another friend of mine (I have lots of friends, if you haven't noticed) Amy was playing the piano. We got bonus points if we could move the piano to its original place while Amy was playing it.

We did. :D

Oh, by the way. The Little Drummer Boy has been stuck in my head all the day.

I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,

Thanksgiving and Idolatry

Yes, you read that right. It is possible to be idolatrous in your thanksgiving. John Piper writes a thought provoking article on a statement by a well known man known as Jonathon Edwards. The statement is as follows:

"True gratitude or thankfulness to God for his kindness to us, arises from a foundation laid before, of love to God for what he is in himself; whereas a natural gratitude has no such antecedent foundation. The gracious stirrings of grateful affection to God, for kindness received, always are from a stock of love already in the heart, established in the first place on other grounds, viz. God's own excellency."

John Piper simplifies this statement by saying that a gratitude that is pleasing to God is not one of being grateful His gifts (though that is a part of being grateful) but rather it is an enjoyment of the Gift Giver. If we simply enjoyed the gift and even gave thanks to the Giver, but we had no love toward Him, the Giver becomes Santa Claus, only existing to give, give, and give.

Piper goes on to use James 4:3-4 as another comparison between our wrong view of giving thanks. In James 4:3-4, the writer rebukes the one who uses prayer to only receive things from God. He compares him to an adulteress, receiving money from her husband and going off and enjoying pleasure elsewhere. It is the same with us. If we don't enjoy God, and only use prayer to receive things for our own selfish desires, we are no better than the adulterer.

This thanksgiving day, I hope you enjoy gathering with family. I hope you enjoy the great foods on your tables. But most of all, I hope you enjoy the God who gives all these things to you, so that you may be thankful for Him.
Happy thanksgiving.

Finding a name.

Who knew that naming a blog would be so difficult? I can never name something. It's some innate disorder that plagues me. My first name for this blog was called "Toe's Home." But, I realize that didn't fit the tone of the new posts that I wanted to put forth. So I went with the name "Finding Meaning to Madness." Though, I like the tone of this new name, it is way too long to be a name. I asked the opinion of a couple of friends and i was given the following names: "Me", "The Asian", "Craziness", "Gross JB" (hahaha. I chuckled at this.), "Brian in a Nutshell", "Zero", and "The Story of the To." Those are all likable. But, I still search for a new name. So now. Now temporary I am "Nameless." Tis a cool title, but I need to find a better and much more permanent one soon. I can't imagine being Nameless forever.

My gripe with the Jonas Brothers

Oh the Jonas Brothers. Everyone's heard of the Jonas Brothers. If you haven't, you've been living under a boulder in Antarctica. (You're blessed.) Their great success is mostly due to Disney's insane and ridiculous marketing. You're also either a Jonas hater or Jonas lover. That's how it goes. I would say that most guys dislike the band and a great majority of 15 year old and under girls are raving mad and hold a disturbing, almost religious obsession for the brothers. If you hadn't already guessed from the title of this post, I don't like the Jonas Brothers.

Now I don't have any particular beef with Disney. I grew up with watching those classic Disney movies. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and the lovable Goofy are all heroes in my book. Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Snow White will always be held close to me.

No. The reason why I dislike the Jonas Brothers is this: their music, like all Disney music before them (and most likely after them) mean absolutely nothing.

Now the Jonas Brothers claim to be Christians. Yet none of the lyrics proclaim Christ or talk about God for that matter! Every piece of writing that the Jonas Brothers have put forward are all about girls and how they feel about that certain girls. They mix together drum beats, guitar strumming, and whiny voices and combine it with half-hearted written lyrics that mean absolutely nothing at all.

Simply, I believe that if you call yourself a Christian, your love for Jesus must manifest itself in some form. The three brothers have not done this yet. Yes they are pristine and clean. Yes they wear purity rings and vow to stay pure until marriage. Yet, are there not moral nonbelievers?

I am told that they have written Christian songs. I have been informed that they are coming. So my question is: What are they waiting for? I understand that they may have needed some time to get famous and popular. But now the fans have come, the money is pouring in, and the ears are open. The three brothers have a great opportunity to spread the message of Christ's love and salvation to Hollywood.

So bring it on Nick, Kevin, and Joe. There are souls waiting to be won.

Lead Me Through.

As I step through the wooden pane
Peace is lost
Torn in this home,
Watch this body scream and writhe.
OH! I’m crawling around for understanding!
Is anybody listening?
Are their eyes calloused from bitterness?

Oh God Help me!

The meaningless noise,
The endless cycle of pain and questions.
The walls close in,
Joyless tears fall to the ground.

Does anybody understand?
This heart bleeds inside out,
Scars become unhidable.

I am lost in a corner, waiting for You.
In all through this darkness, in all this night
There must be some flame, some little light.

Sundown, Sunrise.
This heart, this soul
Cries and pleads for comfort
Good Savior, sustain this frail shell
Beautiful one, hear this lament.

Show me Your Light,
Lead me through

A Plea...

Lost in this noise
As I pull myself together,
My mind drifts to the question...

"When will You come to the place you promised?"

As I trek this crying world
Glimpses of Your Beautiful Self
Shine out of the Static

Majestic trees, Crashing Waves,
Dry Earth

Like me, cry out to be restored.

Atheism and the Kalam Cosomlogical Argument

“Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer,” says an anonymous atheist. Why would you believe and pray to an invisible God, when we could use our brains and just do things? What brings a man to embrace the fact that there is no God? Who should a Christian point the finger at? Atheism argues for the nonexistence of a deity, yet a strong counter-argument gives reason to question that notion and believe there is some greater power.


Different atheists have different reasons to believe that there is no God. Take the problem of evil. If God is good, all powerful, and all knowing, how could He allow evil to exist? This problem of evil proves the first three are false. There are many religions in the world today. There are many gods, many paths to salvation and different heavens. What is the true one? Who can decide? Therefore, an atheist would conclude that due to the many religions and the almost endless routes to a heaven, why would he need to pick one? Yet, if the Christian is searching for the number one culprit on sowing deeds of doubt, he or she needs only to look in the mirror. The hypocrisy of Christians pushes more and more men and women away each day. Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” What a sad and honest truth. Professing believers walk into church, singing worship music with empty hearts, bowing heads when asked to, and stroll out and lead a contradictory lifestyle to one that they claim. It is this reason and many others believe that there is no God.


However, arguments have been raised to prove that there is a God. The Kalam cosmological argument proves the existence of God through the cause of the universe. The universe exists. If it didn’t, how anybody could read these words, or live for that matter. From there, the universe either had no beginning or a beginning. All current science evidence points to a beginning, whether it is a big bang or design. The universe could not be infinitely old due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that whatever ordered energy existing in the universe is spreading and equaling out. If the universe was infinitely old, the energy would have equaled out by now and nothing could move. The universe has been found to be expanding. If one went back far enough, there would be a definite point of where the universe started. Now the beginning of the universe either had no cause or cause. Whatever that has begun to exist had a cause. The reader of this paper is on the earth because his or her mother gave birth to him or her. The computer this paper was written on exists because somebody constructed it. Likewise, the universe had begun to exist, therefore it has a cause. Some would argue that the universe just came into existence. Nothing caused it. The problem is that, how could a large and expansive universe just pop out of no where? It demands an explanation. This cause is either impersonal or personal. An impersonal cause would include chaotic behavior such as an earthquake or an explosion. Chaos does not create an ordered universe. An explosion does not force random materials into a working substance. One would not think a flood, tornado, and earthquake erupting their way through a junkyard would create a factory with working V.W. Beatles. Thus the cause must be personal because it must be smart because of the complexity of life, it must be powerful because of the energy that pulses through the universe, and it must be immaterial and eternal. This personal cause to the beginning of the universe is God.


The Kalam cosmological argument is only a tool. Yes, it does prove the existence of a God through logical and scientific reasoning. Yet, this argument is useless and will fail to convince atheists if Christians do not rid themselves of hypocrisy. Why and how could an atheist follow a God that even Christians do not follow and love? “Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Will this statement define the state of Christianity for the future? Time will tell.

We Want More.

(If it seems a bit random and un-flowy, It's late and my brain is fried. Bear with me. Thanks - Brian)

"Thou has created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee." - St. Augustine

We hunger. Simple fact. I'm not talking about a simple craving for an In N Out Double Double. I'm talking about a deep hunger inside of us. We fill our time with toys, fun and assorted items. But is that really enough? Can you honestly say wholeheartedly that "I am satisfied." Can you think that?

There's a reason why Augustine's quote preceeds this post.

You see we could chase the world, pursue all of our desires, and yet feel inherently empty. I think Christ says it best in Matthew 16:26 - "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?" Jesus asking a rhetorical question here. It will profit you NOTHING, to pursue other worldly desires. You will never be satisfied.

In Haggai , the Israelites' blessings are taken away and everything they try to do for themselves could not give them the filling they needed. "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." (Haggai 1:6) As they tried to create comfort for themselves with lesser things on this earth rather than the Lord of Creation, no longer could they be pleased with anything they had done. No longer could they forget God in the dust. No longer could they deny Him. How foolish would they be for them to continue?

"As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God...Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God." (Psalm 42: 1-2,11)


The Psalmist compares our longing to be satisfied in him with a thirsting deer. He cries out to God. He desires to be quenched with this Living Water. Our souls desire to be with God. Is this our prayer? Is this our cry? Do we hunger for this?

Our bodies hunger. They growl. Not for food, but to be satisfied in God our Lord. We need more than what we think we need. We Want More.

If there was ever a cd...

Hey y'all, listening to Lost in the Sound of Separation, Underoath's latest and most ambitious effort yet. If there was ever a cd that shook my core, stopped me in my tracks, and compelled me to say "whoa", this is it. 11 tracks with blaring guitars, pounding drums, and a more guttural scream from Chamberlain. Yet, there is a point to the harder sound. The cd depicts a life where sin has dominated. And the person is sick of it. Everything is pure noise. Everything is chaos. He is "Lost in the Sound of Separation." And what is that separation? From God. Yet the ultimate ending of the journey is a shot of Hope, with the person finding God and peace at last. And the progression of the sound of the cd is evidence for that. As you continue to listen to the cd, it grows louder and more chaotic, but as you near the end, everything starts to calm down.

Now granted the first couple of tracks are pretty dark. In fact, they are kinda hopeless. But it is this dark and hopeless scenes that make the final message more brilliant and beautiful: hope in the most desolate situation.

It is this very reason that I highly recommend listening Lost In The Sound Of Separation while reading the lyrics. Highly rewarding if you do this.

Total Truth. A burden and a gift.

With the end of summer comes the dread of almost every procrastinating young adult. Finishing summer homework. For my junior year, I am taking AP Language and Composition. Basically How to Write Good class. We are required to read "Total Truth." A book that I've never heard of before this summer. Yet, now I've wondered why I haven't stumbled upon this little book. Though the opening chapters are brutal to read with eloquently written and illustrations that almost reach on par with John Piper's "God is the Gospel" (INSIDE JOKE WITH GUYS D-GROUP), if one keeps on truckin, the book is a little delight to read. It questions whether "Christianity have a legitimate role to play in the public realm of politics, business, law, and education?" Is God even a part of public discussions anymore? The author dives into these questions. In this day in age of postmodernism and relativism and "Oh, everyone's views are right, it doesn't matter, we're all headed in the same direction-ism," this book was a delight to read and I would recommend it wholeheartedly if you want to build a Christian worldview in everything and have Christianity become Total in your life.

Haha. It's good.

"ONLY YOU!"

Well as I stumbled on YouTube, I find the most interesting and funny videos.

And this is one of them.




The song is about a monk begging the scholar to come with him on a journey for a special item. It's just plain brilliant how he goes from english to cantonese. and its quite shocking how the randomness ensues. enjoy.

Late...late...late.

Wow...I'm totally doing a horrible job with updating my blog.

Bah.

Anyways, I wanted to post a little rant. For you people out there that use smiley faces, I wanted to say two things. One the following is NOT a smile. I REPEAT. IT IS NOT A SMILE. ") How could that possibly be depicted as a smile? No one can smile like that! Its like a half smile! Its like if Rocky Balboa smacked a kid in the face, and one side was permanately bruised so the kid had to smile like that.

Second. Why the heck do you not put a space AFTER your smile? I'm sitting here, texting with people, and I'll get a text message saying "you make me smile:)" Uh...did we forget proper grammer? You don't need an actual smile to be merged into the word. It's annoying and looks horrible. Youdon'twriteanentiresentencelikethis! Why would it be any different from adding a smile?

Ouch...

So yesterday, a couple of my friends were in a pool and we decided to have some "bonding" time. We gave each other gully mulleys. If you don't know what that is, you clench your fist and rub it with the "points" made when you fold your fingers onto a guy's sternum. It hurts but also tickles creating a unique feeling.

And it leaves marks on the guy's sternum. I just don't have any because I wasn't in a prolonged battle with someone, and (supposedly) I have more padding on it. Regardless, it hurts.

Those two stanzas of Amazing Grace that no one knows.

"Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine."

You know those two stanzas of Amazing Grace that no one knows? Yeah...it would be those up there. I must say...it is a shame that not many people know these last two stanzas. They are truly peaceful. "I shall possess, within the veil, A life of joy and peace." How many of us long for that? Joy and peace. "But God, who call'd me here below, Will be forever mine." This earth and all of its so called comforts will be gone. But God is eternal.

I long for the day where I too shall possess "A life of joy and peace."

Little rants

One thing I'll never understand is how little things will always affect your daily lives?

For example, I need to clip some fingernails but guess what? There's no nail clippers in the house.

You go camping and you don't have a pillow...ruins your sleep.

You have a burrito. And no salsa.

Yeah I have no idea why it affects your life so.

Joe Jonas Moon Chair

Okay this is getting ridiculous. A Camp Rock moon chair with Joe Jonas' likeness on it. First off...its kinda creepy having Joe Jonas stare at you. ON a chair. Well unless you dig that sort of thing. Unless you're 12 and younger. Or a couple select girls from high school...

Anyways, here's the pic. Found it at target.

Life thus far.

Well, haven't posted here in almost a year. This is a problem. :\

I will begin to start posting a blog daily. Just so I remember what happens to me.

Lots of things has happened since I last posted.

-I'm a Junior in High School now!
-My braces are off! (7 years :D)
-I participated in my church's basketball camp and rediscovered why I like basketball - its fun.
-Working on a sermon. My first sermon. Its quite exciting.
-And finally, a couple of my best friends are gone on a mission trip to Northern Ireland. I miss them dearly already. They left early Wednesday morning.

So that's whats up with my life right now.

Peace.

Oh yeah. One of my long life friends is getting MARRIED today. Getting hitched. Yeah! Pretty intense. I'll take pics and post them.