Bumper Sticker Christianity

Ever been behind a vehicle in traffic that had a really catchy saying pasted all over the back of it? Perhaps you've seen something like, "My child is an honor roll student at Such-and-such School." One that really got me was one that said, in extremely tiny print, "If you can read this, you are following too close." However, one that really bugged me was a license plate that read, "GODB4US"

"Why," you may ask. Well, the reasons are simple and few. First, the idea that you can shrink the importance of a simple prayer, "God, be for us," onto something as small as a license plate number is preposterous. I mean, shouldn't our prayers, however simple they may be, be held in higher reverence? Furthermore, having such a license plate has the potential to decrease the feeling of need to actually spend time in prayer. We may be tempted to think, "Oh, I've got the license plate, I'm covered." Wrong. Prayer should be holy and should actually consist of time spent communicating with a omnipotent God who loves His people very much.

Second, anyone can have such a license plate. And if you think about it, we can go as far as to say that most people who would even dare to have such a symbol on their vehicles are Christians. (I say this from the perspective of one offended by such a symbol, not that I really am.) So, if this is true than any person who has such a symbol is claiming to be a Christian. Yes, this is a really far stretch to imagine but what I'm getting at is based off this and the passage found in 1 John 1.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not live by the truth.

Now I'm not saying that the person who had that license plate was lying or making God out to be a liar, I'm just saying that we must be careful that if we have such symbols, we should make sure that our lives match up with what we claim or we have the potential of making God out to be a liar. This applies to any and every form of this. Including bumper stickers. People are watching us. What will we show them?

Anyway, these are just my thoughts on the matter.

Please comment and lemme know what you think.

IM vs. real conversation

In today's society, there is a huge dependence on technology to aid us in our daily lives. Most people would not even consider life without such means like cell phones, PDAs, computers, any form of music player, etc.. We have become so dependent on technology that we sometimes cannot live without it. An example of this, and I am preaching to myself, is Instant Messaging or IM'ing.

I would consider myself to be very technologically savvy. I am a Computer Scientist, after all. Technology bows before my hands and fingers as I type away at a keyboard, programming a computer or just having fun typing these blogs. I pretty much live on facebook. When I want to talk to someone, I either send him/her a text message with my phone or get on facebook and start a conversation using the Chat utility. More and more I find myself constantly typing away while others are socializing out in the real world.

This constant usage of technology hinders real conversation, I think. It is very simple to type a message and then say, "Oops, that's not what I meant," erase part of it and retype it before sending. It does not require the person typing to think about the conversation at hand. Furthermore emotions cannot be convey properly in an IM conversation b/c the other person cannot see the facial expressions of the other party; save those cute little emoticons, there is no form of emotion in any IM conversation. Second, it does not require either party to actually make an effort to concentrate on the conversation b/c one may browse the web or do other tasks while IM'ing. This, I must say is very convenient, but in reality hinders the conversation when neither party actually puts effort into the conversation. IM'ing, in a way, destroys relationships rather than aiding in the building of them, the ultimate goal of conversation.

So, what am I saying? I don't know. I am just making a declaration of my intent to stop IM'ing as much and start having a real conversation with the people I know and love.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the matter.

World Hunger and Other Problems

So, the other day, I was talking to a friend of mine and we discussed the importance of feeding the hungry. World hunger is something that never really bothered me up until recently. I always thought that it was just something that we would have all the time. But it doesn't have to be.

Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking when they recklessly spend their money on things that don't matter, like roadtrips, football games, movies, cable/satellite, etc. Sure there is a time and a place for everything but if people have soooooooo much excess in funds, don't you think they could at least spend the same amount on helping someone who can't help himself? Priorities, man, priorities.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that football games are bad. I'm not saying that taking roadtrips is bad. I've even seen some really good movies in my life. There are some really good TV shows out there, too. (Dirty Jobs w/Mike Rowe is a really good one if you have a strong stomach.) What I think is the important issue is that if we can spend all this time, effort, and money on ourselves and turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to those who look at us and idolize us for our riches, then something is seriously wrong with us. Right now there are people in Haiti who cannot help themselves. Without the generous support of other nations, they would be starving and dying. Some of them are anyway. It saddens me to think about it. But at least we are helping.

And there are kids in Africa who go for days without food b/c they have no parents, or their parents are simply unable to feed them and provide for their livelihood. This saddens me, too. I've seen the pictures and it tears my hear in pieces every time I see them. A tear falls to the bottom of my soul as I cry to the Father for someone to help them.

Then it hit me. The issue is not what we do with our money, time, and other resources. The issue is why we do with our money, time, and other resources. I know why I do what I do and it's to make sure that Jesus shines through my every deed and thought. Why do you do what you do? Is it for yourself or for your family and other people who may or may not help you back, or is it for Someone who loves and cares for you and will reward you for everything you have done--good or bad?

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on that matter. Later.