I keep getting rocked by this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

how I can kill and reject killing

at least a few people have pitched me flack for going hunting this hunting season. they aren't a fan of me harming helpless animals and callously butchering them for my own enjoyment or what have you. I like these people, and I like to hunt. so I've been composing this blog for a few days in my head now and thought I'd share.

usually I try to pacify the concerns of these people by mentioning that I'm a self-proclaimed pacifist. killing people is wrong in any context, anytime, anywhere. that probably begs the question: how can I think killing people is wrong and think killing animals (such as deer and rabbits) is ok? I'm glad you asked....

I don't believe animals have a soul. they aren't included in God's plan of salvation. so I am not refusing someone or something the opportunity for salvation. that is probably the biggest argument I can make for hunting (and the biggest reason I am a pacifist: in no way can I assume God's place and dictate who is worthy of salvation and who is worthy of death). placing an animal on the same level as a human is a disservice to God, given that humans are the image-bearers of God and animals are not. it'd be a slap in the face to say I created something after my own image and that image somehow informs me that an amoeba or a slug is on the same level as itself. my feelings certainly would be hurt (you're calling me an amoeba-faced slughead?!), not that God necessarily gets His feelings hurt (a topic beyond the scope of this piece).

that of course doesn't mean I can wantonly shoot and kill any animal I see or anything of the sort. it's just the foundation of my world-view; animals don't occupy the importance in creation that humans do. that being said, I hunt for several reasons. first and foremost, the family bonding between my father and relatives is beyond any other experience I've had in my life. I'm as close to my family and relatives now because of the time I've spent tromping through the woods with them (usually not finding much). hunting is also just about the only way to acquire deer meat, and I'm sure there's info somewhere on how much better deer meat is for you than any beef you could get.

the negative reasons are a little more plentiful. I don't believe hunting and killing a deer is worse than growing a cow simply to kill and butcher it. at least the deer have a fighting chance given their heightened senses and superior movement in forests (which they've proved again and again). I also don't believe killing a rabbit is worse than trapping it to die or poisoning it, for much the same reason as the deer (btw I kill rabbits as a service to farmers, who lose crops because of them [the whole humans being more important than animals thing again]). I also don't hunt and kill as a way to feel more like a man. guys who do have serious self-esteem issues and need Jesus more than they need a gun - killing an animal isn't a sign of masculinity or physical prowess, or at least it certainly shouldn't be.

if I'm going to kill an animal, I'm going to do it as a steward of creation (which God has tasked mankind to do). this is why I follow the rules: poaching is stupid, and taking care of forests and animal population is more important than filling my freezers. so I comply with state and federal regulations, and the deer have been more or less safe from my gun anyway (see above on more skillful movement through forests). hunting is how I enjoy God's creation best, how I experience the Maker and Savior of my soul through His creation of forests and animals.

I'd have to be ok with the raw act of taking an animal life if I'm ever going to be ok with the "sanitized" version presented to us at fast food joints. some vegetarians refuse meat based on the cruelty to animals argument (which I more or less reject on the basis that animals don't deserve more attention than humans do - fix the cruelty toward humans before you worry about the animals). I wouldn't argue someone to go against their conscience, whether I agree with their reasoning or not. however, many people who have a problem with hunting are not vegetarians. the only logic I see in eating beef and condemning hunting is that deer are fuzzier and cuter than cows, and now you've stepped into the realm of prejudice. thank God humans aren't given life or death based on their appearance.

I suppose I've tarried too long on the subject. it is what it is: I hunt animals with a healthy respect to God and His creation (and to the authorities placed above me), and I hate war and violence out of respect to God and His creation.

I take too long

I've had plenty of blogworthy material over the past month-and-change. but, alas, the tyranny of the urgent distracts me from doing what I love most: sleeping. it also makes blogging a difficult task.

so with that, I post this humble and entirely unnecessary update that I am in fact still alive and I do in fact have a life that is more than eating, sleeping, and working. not much more, but...come on, it's the small victories in life that keep us going right?

I find it funny

how friendly people are at the campsite dump station. I guess that's what you get when you're pouring crap down a drain - everyone is humiliated enough as it is, might as well share the experience. as dad says, "that is about as much fun as projectile vomiting in your sleep." indeed.

waiting for the day to start

I haven't blogged in a while because I'm frantically trying to restore balance to my life. it's working, albeit slowly. and I still need a roommate.

I went to a ren faire over the weekend with my beloved and her friend. I'm such a huge nerd, because I enjoyed the heck out of it.

and the allure of riches is a retardedly huge pull in the states. I'm beyond broke and I'm still wishing I had more money so I could buy this and that. rich young ruler, no kidding...my kingdom is the little niche of nothing I've carved for myself and I'm trying to protect it at all costs. foolishness.

delay

I've had a lot going on, and as such it's been hard to stay on top of everything. I saw "Catch Me If You Can" the musical, and it was far and away better than I expected (I expected to be out of there by intermission).

and I love my girl dearly, so much it hurts. you all needed to know that whether you needed to know it or not.

kthnxbai

holy hotness Batman!

it's not quite the hottest part of the week yet. Wednesday and Thursday currently hold that honor, apparently. oh the joy of working an outside job...

I haven't quite cooled down enough to actually fall asleep, which is unfortunate because I wouldn't mind getting more sleep tonight.

why this weather must come to Seattle is a bit beyond me....

high speed chase

Beth and I were driving home (technically speaking I was driving and she was riding) tonight from a trip into Redmond. our last stop was at Safeway, and, having loaded up the groceries, I proceeded out of the parking lot and onto the main arterial that would take us back into Kirkland. 5 blocks into our trip I noticed the car behind us had a lightbar and was obnoxiously close to my bumper. "hey pal, if you want to climb up my tailpipe be my guest. I'm already going 5 over." I kinda wish I had actually said that out loud. instead, I mention to B that there was a cop following us.

she commented that I was doing nothing wrong (something I was already well aware of). confident in my innocence of anything I continued. the jerkoff cop up my tailpipe backed off a bit, but kept following me. I turned down the first sidestreet to B's place, and J. Off Cop followed us. again, supremely confident that I had neither been speeding nor been guilty of any other moving violation, and also confident that for whatever asinine reason Mr. Nothing-Better-To-Do-Than-Follow-People-Until-They-Screw-Up Cop was going to pull me over, I powered on down to the next side street, the one that B's place was on. I made it through the roundabout and just got onto the street (2 blocks from B's door) when he flipped his lights on. "are you serious." that was B. I don't think I said anything.

so I pull off, and Officer Make-Up-A-Crime-For-Me came up to the window. "evening officer." "how're you folks doing? just you two in the car? (duh) you visiting from Oregon? (dad's car still, thanks)"

"your taillight is out."


oh.

I didn't get the job

although I guess it was down to me and another candidate. it was a fun ride breezing through the interviews, but, alas, apparently I'm not what they wanted.

so I'll keep digging holes and building fences until another job opportunity comes up. still need a roommate, still need a life, still need...gosh, I probably need everything. oh shoot, and it looks like I need to go to work too. dag nab it.

I don't wanna work, I just wanna bang on the drum all day

but I am working, and not playing percussion.

family is in town. therefore this week is redeemed

link up!

I joined LinkedIn. it's another networking site, only this one centers on careers and jobs and such.

maybe I can find a new career.



or not.

Taken

is a movie with Liam Neeson.

good action flick.

I'm just about wrecked over the human trafficking theme. it hurts, the level of depravity of the human condition... it hurts to think of people's daughters forced into awful conditions. I can't even imagine how Jesus feels.


I need to stop watching movies. they mess with my emotions and I have to deal with the consequences afterward. I also need to get involved, help stop human trafficking, adopt babies from overseas, do whatever I can. I need to do more.

filler

I'm thinking about a post that I might write in a bit that has to do with the "button" I put up to the right. it'll involve a quote from Shane Claiborne I'm sure, and deep thoughts about Christian responsibilities and such.

oh, and if you don't follow my Twitter you need to. the recent activity is on the right too, a little lower.

and I still need a roommate.

proud to be...

I just saw a page on Facebook. the title was "I'm Proud To Be A Christian". 4 of my Facebook friends have become fans of the page.

yet my first reaction was, hmm, difficult to describe....revulsion perhaps? yet not quite that strong...

I had to think for a minute or two why that was my gut-level reaction. shouldn't pride in that fact that you've been saved from sin be a good thing? can't you be proud that you have religious freedom?

after reflection, it hit me like a ton of bricks.




pride has absolutely no place in the kingdom of God. pride is the antithesis of a Jesus-follower. pride is the fault of Satan, the reason there is a Hell, the root of any sin conceivable. and yet....and yet it's attached to an individuals "chosen path/religion/status". even if the title of the page had been "I'm proud Christ saved me from myself, my sin, and hell" I'd still feel revulsion, because it is only by the extreme act of grace by God that any person "escapes" his true judgment and is saved from a self-destructive life of sin and bondage.

really, this post reminds me of a slogan: "I'm proud to be an American". they wrote a song about it. you could take pride in your country because you had freedoms and so on and so forth. our highschool cheerleaders had a whole routine to this song that was really powerful and involved an enormous American flag. the point of the slogan? take pride in what you are, because it makes you better than everyone else in the world. (that may be an oversimplification, but it really isn't that far off).

and the page on Facebook, well, it reminds me of that slogan. take pride in what you are (a Christian) because that makes you better than the rest of the world (pagans). yet, it is this world we are trying to reach. and elitism is a form of ostracization, and ostracization from the rest of the world is the opposite of spreading the light of the saving gospel of Jesus.




what would the title of my page be? if I'd ever thought that creating a Facebook page for my faith was a worthy goal, and I had to follow that form of a title....humm....I think "I'm Proud of Jesus and His Cross" is closer to Paul's boasting. because then the focus is no longer any "status" I've attained but rather the focus is on Jesus and what He has accomplished on my behalf.

STP weekend

ahhh, nostalgia time....

the STP bike ride goes through my hometown of Chehalis. when we were young, we used to prepare for this event. I'm still not sure who's idea it was initially, probably my sister's, but one year we decided to set up a stand and provide some treats and water and lemonade. we sold everything pretty cheap for the bike riders (it was rather convinient that our house sat right on the route), and a fair amount of people decided to stop off at out little table with goodies and buy from us.

it turned into a tradition that lasted at least a few years. every Friday night before the big STP weekend mom would start furiously baking goodies for us kids to sell (our cousins got in on the deal the first year), and we'd score an easy $50 or $100 on the weekend. it was the first or second time around everyone discovered I had a set of pipes: we decided to "advertise" a little ways up the road, and our version of advertizing consisted of one person holding a sign and another shouting at the top of his/her lungs "Snack Shack" over and over again. dad, in his infinite wisdom, told us at some point to add "last stop before the big hill" (I'm not sure the bikers actually had to ride up the hill that was past our house on the road, but who cared).

it was great times had by all, including the neighbor kids. one of our neighbors set up a competition stand that didn't get squat. you just couldn't beat our stand for refreshments.



the last year of the beloved Snack Shack was the year someone else set up a stand earlier on the route and made a ton of money (in young kids terms, mind you). that year we only made a couple bucks; no one stopped at our little stand on the route. not long after that the route changed, and the STP no longer went by our house.

kiss of the dragon

I tried Komodo Dragon blend today.

it wasn't too bad. definitely a welcome departure from the 3 roasts I had been using since Christmas (that's what I get for living alone and getting 2+ lbs for the holidays).

I think I need to branch out though. this stuff tastes different for sure, but....hum, well all Starbuck's coffee is starting to taste the same.

Beff and I went on a hike

to Rattlesnake Ledge. it was great.

what was even cooler was I had my phone with me recording our trip. then I made it a map.


View Rattlesnake Ledge in a larger map

cool huh? I love Google stuff.

freedom

I wish I could have written this yesterday while the thoughts were still fresh. it stems from a video shown at church. a couple lines caught my attention.

the video starts out describing aspects of freedom, mostly aspects of our "possessing" freedom, and ends by saying essentially freedom can only be found in Christ (which, of course, is absolutely true). it didn't use the word freedom until the very end, pasted across a background of the cross. the first half of the video, in describing all these aspects of freedom, use pictures of people holding flags and whatnot, people at rallies and so forth.

what caught my attention was a couple particular lines: "we were born with it" and "it is our right".

apparently the makers of this video were talking about Americans and not about Christians. Americans were born with all kinds of freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of religion (the first few lines of the video talked about this freedom), and so on. it is indeed a right, written into the American constitution, that all Americans can and will be free (the definition of said freedom is open to interpretation, of course).

Christians were born into bondage, namely the bondage of sin. the foundational doctrine of Christianity is that we are slaves to our sin, slaves to this world, and we cannot "do right" or be righteous until Christ saves us out of our sin. we weren't born with freedom, we were born a slave to death. also, and more importantly in my opinion, once a slave to death becomes a Christian, he becomes a slave to righteousness (to use the words of a famous Christian author). our life is no longer our own (which isn't truly "our own" anyway given the sin nature) but instead is dedicated to the cause of Christ. or at least it should be.

many people in America seem to think that freedom in Christ is equivalent with religious freedom, freedom of speech, and the bill of rights. too many well-meaning Christians place a higher value on American values than on Christian values. too many people want to live their own lives in "freedom" without having to answer to anybody.

too many people forget the slave-nature of Christianity. we are called to be bondservants of Christ, not autonomous do-gooders. one will be told "well done good and faithful servant", another will be told "get away from Me, I never knew you".

false teachers

I receive a decent amount of feeds in my Google Reader. one of those feeds is the Mars Hill vodcast. I was fairly amused by the latest one, which is a video of Mark Driscoll preaching on false teachers. I haven't actually watched the video yet, so I don't know what Mark has to say on the subject (good stuff I'm sure), but what amused me was the item description:

In warning Christians against false teachers, Peter notes that they are often bold. This means that they are very confident, pushy, and certain that they are right and that other people are wrong. What Peter is teaching is that someone can be sincere, confident, convincing, bold, and still wrong and a false teacher.

perhaps I'm becoming cynical, but that sounded like a perfect description of Mark himself. I don't necessarily think Mark is a false teacher, don't get me wrong. I do have some issues with some of the things he says. my main thing is, I just think this description is funny.

useless post FTW!

need a little time

I have a post that's been rolling around in my head. it's a short one, but it must come later because I'm behind on a couple things and work keeps slamming me hard.

stay tuned.

the cause of Christ does not include the right to bear arms

unless I'm vastly mistaken and this pastor has the gospel correct.

we live in a country that is composed of freedom and "rights". I'm all for taking advantage of a right when it furthers the kingdom of God - Paul did as much in Acts by appealing to Caesar. but, the fundamental nature of Christianity is the sacrificing of ones "rights" - right to self-interest, right to self-promotion, right to egocentric living, even the right to possessions. we are called to be in the world and not of it, and the world holds its "stuff" very dear; but we are not called to be tied down to material possessions. nor are we called to rely on our own strength for protection.

somehow, the cause of Christ has been confused with the cause of American Values. the right to bear arms may be an important one to protect for Joe Blow American, but it is not one a Christian needs to fight for, let alone a pastor.

Christians have become used to their "rights", and I find it unfortunate given that the movement was founded in a culture that denied those Christians their rights. American Christians are comfortable with their stuff, their possessions and rights and status. if I understand the words of Jesus correctly, those who are materially rich (read: rich young ruler w/ possessions, rights, status) have an awful hard time entering the kingdom of God. it's not impossible, but when a person has all they need without needing God, that same person learns to rely on their own strength and not God's (Who is sufficient for us all, btw). God then becomes a crackerjack box toy that a dude can pull out as his ace up the sleeve when he "needs" it.

I own arms. I enjoy hunting. shooting guns is fun, and if it weren't for hunting and for shooting stuff the relationship I have with my dad and cousins would be vastly different. but I'm not going to fight for those. they're a luxury as a Christian, not a right.

and the church shouldn't be viewing them as such.

I

need a roommate.

anyone know anyone?

a quick one

went on a date with my wonderful girl tonight. it was fantabulous.

work is....less than desirable right now. pretty sure I'm hoping on the next job that's even comparable in wages. too much frustration, too much aggravation, too much annoyance. such is life I suppose, but I certainly don't see any reason to willfully subject myself when options exist.

oh, and I watched the video of the girl who died in the Iran protests. horrific. I shouldn't have, I'll probably have sad dreams now, but...I dunno what it is about human nature that must watch others' suffering. perhaps it is our desire to identify and to a subconscious extent empathize with others. perhaps it's a sadistic side. perhaps the sadistic side is itself a way of empathizing with pain.

whatever it is, I am so very deeply saddened by the violence. I know that such violence is "more common" in the Middle East, but clinical depression could be more common over there and I'd still be sad. I'm saddened. and I'm realizing I'm not praying near hard enough. I sincerely pray that the scheduled protest will be peaceful and not marked by violence or the emergence of new martyrs.

technology

is stinkin fun.

combining my shared rss items with my blog, updating rss subscriptions to my interests, sync my contact pictures online and on my phone...

I'm having more fun than should be allowed for something as geeky as this.

apprehension

so I casually follow the news now that I am a Google addict. Google's Reader makes it fairly easy, especially since I can check news items out on my phone. typically I'm checking out sports stuff, Mariners and whatnot, which is most entertaining for me.

but I get a lot of Fox news items when I'm online, and I've seen a lot of stuff that has me wondering what the world will look like in the next 6 months. I'm curious if the stuff in Iran is going to keep escalating and another revolution will take place. I honestly doubt a full-scale revolution will happen again in Tehran in my lifetime, yet I'm left wondering if perhaps the democratic ideals in place in Iraq aren't having an influence next door. needless to say, I'm going to be watching and praying; watching to see if change in a harsh environment is possible, and praying that blood isn't shed and lives aren't lost.

I'm almost positive a "conflict" is on the horizon with N. Korea. Too much is in contention. my gut feeling is there'll be some kind of skirmish in the near future. the pacifist in me hates that it would come to this; logically, the removal of Kim Jong-Il's regime would precipitate less potential violence, and I'm all for less violence in the long run, but I'm all for less violence period. Shane Claiborne taught me a while back (when I was reading and his books were in my list) that violence doesn't solve violence. violence begets violence just as peace begets peace. unfortunately I cannot rely on any party involved in this conflagration to be the peacemaker. truth is, the only peacemaker I can rely on is Jesus, and I can only rely on my own peaceful intentions as far as my fallen human flesh can take me.

so, I will be praying. praying for world events, praying that WW3 will never exist, praying that leaders of nations will speak peaceful words of wisdom, praying that God will intervene for His holy purposes and that those who need to do what He needs them to do will, in fact, do what they need to do.

times are always troubling. history repeats itself. wars and rumors of wars have been around for a logn long time. I'm not predicting the apocalypse, nor am I using isolated events as indicators of the end times. I'm just praying for peace on earth and goodwill toward man.

I'm praying for Jesus to come back.

first time for everything

I haven't blogged in a long long while, and no one actually sees this blog anyway so I could get away with posting just about anything I wanted to. I have a feeling it might start getting some traffic if I get around to promoting it, but who knows.

I had a real downer of an evening. put in 50 hours of work this week, overdrafted the moon, had one or two vent sessions over the boss/work, and endured some pretty fierce spiritual attacks. I survived all but the last - endured is the wrong word, sustained is perhaps a better choice. or perhaps even "fell flat on my face in front of".

it would make sense that all heck would break loose at once. things typically go fine for a long while, while the enemy bides his time and waits for an opportunity. then, wouldn't you know it, he springs in the midst of a firestorm. and I don't guard myself well at all.

I almost wonder if perhaps all heck broke loose as a result of loosing the battle. sin affects everything we do whether we know it or not. my emotional ventilation might not have been such a taxing experience had it not been for me screwing up. in fact, the whole work situation might have been handled completely differently if I hadn't allowed my connection to God get strained.

of course, the only thing I can do now is pick it back up and keep moving forward. I have the unfortunate duty of figuring out a good way to be accountable to someone. I know all the tricks and tips and so on about accountability, but for whatever reason (read: lazy) I have a hard time keeping it in place and useful.


on a completely different thought, I'm trying to figure out a way to make my life feel a little more "useful" right now. perhaps I could use this blog as a vehicle for, something. research? I did want to research and exegete a passage of Scripture and then put the results on here. maybe I'll do that later - it'd be nice to have a purpose again, rather than trying to find some kind of satisfaction out of building fences I'll never use or need.

I could probably carry on a thought or two about fences, but.....nah.