I know; it's late

So.....tomorrow (today) I am presenting the defense of Catholicism in my Unity in the Bible Course. One of my groupmates is an adamant practicing Christian Catholic, and he's really helped me to undestand all of the misconceptions non-catholic Christians have about catholics and especially what catholics seem to believe - though falsely - about non-catholic Christians. All in all, we have a lot of conversing to do in order to work toward a greater unity of the Church.

Let's focus on Christ.......more to come tomorrow (later today)


BACK: The presentation went really well; we completely owned. This weekend I need to really focus on getting the reading and research done for a paper due March 2nd. With a new class starting 2 mondays from today, which will only last for two weeks - but will be held m.w.f. from 7-9 - and have a comprehensive final near the same time as the paper's due date, I need to get moving. This weekend is prime pickings for starting that as well as finishing up some "great" reading in Aristotle and Milton.

I've also been working on designs for the new Hillsdale Christian Fellowship website that I'm creating in my Web Design class on Tuesdays and Thursdays - 6:15-9:00. The emphasis is on the design aspect as too many people are on the internet who know how to create a website, but they don't have much in the design category - according to my professor. I'm thinking about layouts involving a cross, maybe the region of the forearm and the pierced left wrist. Having the arm at the top of the page with Hillsdale Christian Fellowship written from the blood flowing in His veins (we are the body...) Another idea would to be have a part of the crown of thorns showing, and maybe an ear. Then have a drop of blood falling through the air. This idea could also be created into a Flash animation in which the blood hits a pool of black liquid, and as soon as it touches, the liquid begins to ripple and reveal pictures of Christians on campus and ministry pictures. Those are some of the ideas so far......more to come, maybe.

God bless,
DMS

Prayer

In Bible Study tonight, we covered the topic of prayer. We spoke about what prayer is, why it's not optional, why it's not drudgery but rather a privilege for our benefit, and why not praying has consequences.

"Not" everything was about the negatives; however, as we covered a lot on the magnitude of the blessing which prayer is for us. Prayer allows us to connect with the Father, through the Son, by way of the Holy Spirit.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
-Romans 8: 26

If we're to be men of God, it would be prudent to look at the examples set by other men of God to see how they sought the Lord and how they came to be known as men of God. David wrote the Psalms, enough said. Solomon was the wisest and richest man to ever live precisely because of his prayer. Many of the prophets' prayers saved or destroyed entire nations by the will of God. Now for the clearest example, we look to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Being fully man, fully God, He prays to the Father constantly, for hours on end. And get this, HE'S GOD.......If God has the need to be in communication with Himself for sustenance (and for setting the example for us on how to live a godly life and seek Him as He desires to be sought after), it probably would figure pretty well that we need it so much more.

There's so much more that we covered, but I'm too tired and have to much to do before I got to bed tonight - like read the Bible and pray - to type it all out. Next week we'll be covering the positive commandment to fast.


God bless,
DMS

"You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed."
- John Bunyan

Heaven is filled with a room that will surprise all of us when we see it. The room has within it large boxes neatly packaged with a lovely ribbon on top with your name on it, "Never delivered to Earth because never requested from Earth."

"Prayer is not a substitute for work, thinking, watching, suffering, or giving; prayer is a support for all other efforts."
- George Buttrick, quoted in Lloyd Cory, Quote Unquote

Smiling

I'm currently writing in both this blog and in my journal. What I'm writing in my journal is making me smile so much I can almost not focus/type.

Smiling is contagious. Jaimi and I have staring contests once and awhile, and it always breaks down into more of a smiling contest. It's more like who can lift the edges of their mouth closest to their eyes - I'm talking about ridiculous smiling. The air is electrifying - no joke. We'll pause and reset; however, about as soon as we look up to make eye contact and begin the battle, it's already lost and both of us lose our edge and win a smile from across the table.

On smiling...

If you want to be a great smiler, it's going to take a lot of physical practice along with a lot of reading and contemplative study. You may think that I am writing this for humorous purposes, but I stand firm that I am doing no such thing - though the thought is good for smiling.
In regard to physical endurance, smiling (though it uses less facial muscles than frowning) will occur for long extended periods of time - many times coming unannounced - and often are accompanied by laughing. Although there are many more physical aspects to smiling, for these reasons alone, I would recommend the up-and-coming smiler to work hard in the weight room on developing a strong core, focusing on the abdomen and cardio workouts for lung capacity.
As for reading and contemplative study, well...it's inappropriate to smile at some things, whereas you will appear insensitive if you don't smile at others. It's very important to know the decorum for smiling - time, place, manner. Also, it's hard to smile if you don't know how. This can be remedied by speaking with other avid smilers who, I am sure, would be delighted to help you in learning the intricacies of smiling (they will probably smile when you ask them; this is a good first lesson in when it's appropriate to smile).
Dedicate yourself to refining your tastes in smiling over time, and don't become depressed if it's hard for you to grasp some of smiling's subtleties as quickly as you would like. Learning to smile well is a journey, not a destination.

I hope to write more on this topic in the near future....as for now, I hope this has made you smile :)

God bless,
DMS

Tae Kwon Do

Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do (the style of TKD which I study)

I've been fighting for awhile now - not with TKD, but in general (different styles including Tang Soo Do, Kenpo, a little Judo, American Boxing, and some Systema) - and I'm to that point where I want to begin testing my skill more aggressively. There's something about connecting you muscle and bones with someone else's that makes you smile (not when it's happening of course). Testing your strength, speed, agility, intelligence, and endurance against another of the same caliber or higher is exhilarating. This week I plan on sparring a national champion (it'll be a learning experience on my end, no doubt), and I'm excited to see how good I am. Though I don't plan on being able to stand toe to toe with him, I am confident in my ability to fare well.

Edit: I've thought about this more, and knowing that I have a ton to learn; it's is going to be a great opportunity to figure out where I stand and have proof (whether surprising evidence of talent or a pride-smashing display of expectation) - that's why I'm going to take my camcorder :).

What do I ultimately want to achieve through fighting? Well, personally, I would like to reach black belt rank (maybe a degree or two higher) for the discipline aspect, I would like to win some more tournaments for my instructor, and I would like to be recognized a little for my ability (not to be too prideful or focused on storing up treasures sown in flesh, but cultivating your talents is important, and being able to influence people because of what you do with what you've been given is taught explicitly through the parable of the shrewd manager). I have thought a little about starting up my own gym under my current instructor as a side hobby/job in a couple of years as well. That would be a good field for spreading the high standard of character to which Christ has called us (and discipline, hard work, positive attitude) and also for sharing His message of redemption with students who desire to get to know you.

More will be coming....
God bless,
DMS

Here's my Miltonian Sonnet for Tuesday. Milton's sonnets are very different from what I was initially using. Each line is composed of 10 syllables, and the rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdec de (the purpose of the space between the "c" and the final "de" are to signify the separation found in the sonnet form. The form consists of the eight first lines detailing a problem, the next 4 lines providing an answer to the problem, and the final two lines summarize the poem.

(I've added the form at the side and text changes to help you see the form)

10 – a I find no joy, learning to live and die.
10 – b Where is the purpose, for death runs too fast,
10 – b Though I have tried, I cannot cheat my past.
10 – a Useless days ahead, Why am I, O why?
10 – a My light is dimming, darkness, “Heed my cries!
10 – b Discern my existence from all so vast,
10 – b Posterity, know me, for I am passed,”
10 – a “What’s the point?” I ask, worthiness denied.

10 – c To trust in the Lord, you, all the earth-born,
10 – d All your days be as Solomon was first.
10 – e Like the servant David delight in Me.
10 – c Though your days have been numbered, do not mourn.

10 – d Fear the Lord, be still, and sing of His verse,
10 – e all you children who were once blind, “Now see!”

Ultimate Fighting

previously - "coming this afternoon..."

9 pm is still afternoon :)

"Sword fights with blades held tight, slice, dip, and parry, with all your might
Muster up the strength to protect your life, Victory is found at the end of the night,

Grip the biceps of the adversary, take him to the ground, throw him if you can, but keep your footing sound.
Guard your hip because you often run away, and if he touched it you'd have to stay, no longer able to remove yourself when the situation made you afraid

Guns blazing in a battle, wits removed,
Explosions sound around your head, though none are passing through
Blood oozing out the chest, new cavity formed
Created by the heated lead, pray that dusk is reaching dawn,
Just need one more day to carry on.

Short, brief, terse,
The ephemeral curse

Life is but a moment,
You are like the vapor
No hand can demand to hold it,
No tongue can pray to savor
The fleeting pleasure that deceives
Life, existance, being, a much to costly luxury



Blessed are those who wait upon, the Word who spoke into the non
Gave existence it's definition on, the very day He suffered wrong,
Unjustly mutiliating spawn, laughed and cursed our very God,
But praise His name, for they knew not, he gave us everlasting life, when he endured our rot.
Our costly existance was fully bought, on the tree, that very spot, up to which every sin was caught, and then our God our sins forgot

Sonnet #1

Note: This does not follow the rhyme scheme of Milton (though I may revise the topical attack for that assignment I previously mentioned).

1. Uncertainty’s clouds plume around the vows.
2. Meaning’s indecision hurts the multitudinous crowds.
3. Solving riddles of masked verbiage, pretending to bow,
4. How can we discern truth when it’s surrounded by foul?
5. Liars conspire to trap the listener’s ear
6. Fighting fire with more liars draws us all to despair,
7. Where is the dividing sword of all the discussion we hear?
8. We would ascertain the blame but there’s nobody there…
9. I’m still wondering when the answer comes a’ thundering,
10. “Who dares to despair about the prince of the air, am I not still here?”
11. “If you need the wisdom, I’m not finding fault, giving freely from My vault,
12. I’ll catapult your understanding, I’ll send you equipped for the fraud’s assault.
13. And so when they please to defraud My salt, get to your knees.
14. You haven’t been informed only to wallow in self-pity.”

A lot of different thoughts have caught my focus lately
- how difficult would it be for us to go one day without talking in some fashion with a best friend, close loved-one, spouse, etc., and yet that's the type of relationship we often impose up the Lord. We determine the times when it's good and okay for us to talk with eachother, and oftentimes, we don't even let Him talk. We dictate the rules and we think that's the way it's going to be. I know for me it's so very important to stay aware of how much (or little) I'm yielding to the Spirit's leading lest I fall unto my own weakness.
- how important and what great pleasure there is to be found in the presence of the Lord. There are (as assumed above) people that you just enjoy spending time with. Can you think of those people who you don't even really need to talk with, but can just spend time with them and be satisfied (as much as we can be by other brothers and sisters in Christ)? God's presence is infinitely more satisfying than the greatest satisfaction we can know on this earth. Let's seek it and enjoy it
- Silence has been a theme to which these other topics relate, but there is also something unique about it that the others haven't intrinsicly addressed, that being the importance of silence i.e. Why do we need to be silent (other than the phrase "so that you can hear God's voice)? And I'm not saying that the purpose isn't hearing God's voice, it is, but who can understand that answer when we aren't dealing with a 100% audible to our understanding of audible - nor understanding in general - God? There is something mysterious about this as well as blatantly obvious. Spend half a day without speaking (use a weekend probably) and pray that the Lord uses the time to develop your sense for spiritual things. While basically dealing in the audibility of love , this could mean asking God to make you more aware of those who are suffering or in need, more attentive to the thoughts you harbor, relationships you are involved in and the godliness present in them, etc....

More thoughts on the way

God bless
DMS