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.