A MIGHTY FIST OF FURY!!

Random Thought!

Game Agrivation

So a couple of months ago i bought this game. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. I started playing it and was stuck on the first real mission, (there were a few prologue like missions in the beginning). I put the game to the side and didn't really give it a second thought. why? because i had more important things to do! that's why! haha plus i had other games i could occupy free time with.

Well i finally sat down today to play it again to try and figure out why i was stuck. I had saved every person on the level there were no more bad guys. why was i stuck!?

So i went online and did some searching. Turns out their is a glitch in the disk and when you hit that level all u have to do is reload it using the original auto save data and plays through.

boy was that agrivating

Valentine Blog-vlog

Culture & Heritage, Does it Define You?

One of my secret pleasures is watching “Independent Lens” on Louisiana Public Broadcasting. (LPB) I really do enjoy being able to see how different people view the world. Independent Lens almost never fails to deliver something new and interesting.

Tonight they showed a film called “Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness.” It is the story of anthropologist Melville Herskovits (1895-1963), whom Harvard professor Vincent Brown calls "the Elvis of African-American studies." The son of Jewish immigrants, Herskovits founded the nation's first major African studies program. It was, truly, a very interesting film that posed the question “who had the right to define culture?” Mr. Herskovits believed that 1940’s black culture was not pathological but derived from black roots in Africa.

This then lead me to begin thinking about today’s society. How do the roots of our heritage affect today’s culture? By culture I mean the anthropological view which is: the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another. Those who know me well you know I often make jokes about my Mexican heritage. At times I’ve even made jokes about European heritage and my mysteriously cloaked and unconfirmed Italian heritage.

As I sit back and think about it all I’m not sure if I truly allow either one to affect who I am. Yes I’m trying to learn a little bit of Spanish, in part due to heritage but mostly at the moment due to my relationship with my Imelda, my girlfriend. Yet all together, I don’t really believe my heritage has affected the outcome of who I am. Is that sad? Possibly…

Why is that? I look at many of my friends who are my age and they too seem not to care too much about their ancestral home. Yet, at the same time, have many friends who are deeply submerged in their heritage. We see people who are deeply involved in their African heritage, their Mexican heritage, or their Italian heritage. But let me ask you this, what is American heritage?

Does the region of your past family members dictate who you are and how you act?

Am I saying we shouldn’t honor and respect those who have come before us and where they come from? That we should ignore the struggles early immigrants of today and yesterday have made? To quote the great Apostle, “By no means!”

I whole heartily believe in the honoring of our forefathers. Both American and non American, after all if it were not for immigrants then the only people here would be Native Americans. I love to see the embrace of cultural art, life, and experience! I love to see the crossing and mixing of such things to create and birth new cultural art, life, and experience. In truth I believe if we do not grasp our past we can not truly find our future. I also believe if we do not allow our cultures to collide and mingle then humanity as a whole will become dull, boring, and worthless.

What I struggle with, however, is from my stance as a Christian. Culture is one thing but what happens when culture contradicts scriptural principles and truths; when culture puts you under bondage that God never meant for you to have. Is there room in scripture for culture?

Absolutely, however, when culture contradicts an absolute truth, then something must change.

Couple of examples; let’s take the culture of middle/upper class white American society. (please, take note these are generalizations and not true for the whole) Some work hard and do their very best to provide. Many live in nice houses in fantastic areas. Many believe that if they were able to work their way to the top then everyone should be able to do so too. To a point this is true, however, there is often a slight problem that appears in this society. The concept of elitism comes into play. The idea of I made and if you can’t too bad.

Does having the best shoes, the best car, the best schools, make you superior than the rest? Should you act and think as so? What happens when a person of this class looks out across “poor America?” Do they see themselves as better?

Here is where culture must bow to scripture. Just because you are by appearance more than another, scripture often lifts the humble, the meek, and the poor. In fact in the ultimate example of what we should be like, we see the highest of them all, lowering himself to the lowest of positions.

Is it wrong to be rich and have nice things? By no means! Is it wrong to be rich, have nice things, and think that you are truly better than everyone? YES! Again the Apostle Paul places us all on equal ground stating “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Now lets look at lower class black culture. (again it is stated that this is a generalization of a few not the whole) Here in Louisiana, I’ve noticed, there is an interesting teaching being bread into our children. I remember a conversation with my friend, Tacoya (T.C.), where he remarked on something his grandfather had taught him.

Essentially he was told that if anything is ever not going your way, you should blame it on the fact that you’re black. The black man is poor because the white man doesn’t want blacks to succeed. If things aren’t going your way then it’s not your fault. You’re not to blame, it’s someone else’s.

As sit back and look across the black community around me, I see this concept in many people. What this has brought into the community is the concept of it’s always someone else. I never have to take responsibility. I never need to answer for my actions. I never need to take care of myself.

Again here is where culture must bow to scripture. Scripture says that you can succeed, that God can help you to overcome all obstacles. Scripture also dictates that we are responsible for our own doings. If you don’t put the effort into something then it is your fault if you don’t succeed. The Bible says that God will provide a way out of temptation , but it doesn’t say he’ll force you to make the right choice. You have to make that.

To be fare on both sides of the issues, when I was in collage I had a conversation with a sociologist. Sadly, and to my shame, I can not remember his name; but will happily report back when I remember. In our conversation he state quite simply:

“The problem with racism today is that neither party knows the facts. White people think that everything is on equal ground and that blacks do have the same opportunities as whites. However, the problem is that the average income for a black male still staggeringly lower than the average white male. Blacks are still socially struggling to get up.

The blacks feel that the white man is still trying to hold them down, when the reality is that most white people don’t perceive that there is even a problem. In truth if many black people do try, they will succeed”

Above I’ve shown two example of where culture conflicts with scripture. So again I ask, what do you, me, us, allow to define who you, me, us, are?

How to Help Kids Listen

my very first video blog :)

Signs.... Where do they Point to?

So I’m sitting here in the church coffee shop going over John 4:43-54. At the moment I’m really just trying to bash out my own thoughts on the selection.

Jesus just spent two days in a town ministering to people who believed first because of the simple testimony of a singular woman. They then believed because of they themselves have gone and heard him. This is a great illustration of the power of our testimony. Your testimony can and will change things.

So now here’s Jesus in Galilee, the place that He had stated that a prophet is not honored in his own country. We see this story in Matthew 13, Mark 6, & Luke 4. It is here that something interesting happens. In verse 45 the people receive him quite well. Not because of the word of a testimony or because of what he’s said directly to them, rather because they had seen the miracles he had done in Jerusalem.

Skip down to verse 46-54 we find the story of a nobleman who came to seek healing for his son. Jesus’ reply….

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe”

Being what I believe to be in distress the man again pleads with Jesus to come with him and heal his son. Jesus told the man to go home because his son was healed. Then something amazing happened. The bible says in verse 50.

“So the man BELIEVED the WORD that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.”

He was begging Christ to come with him in person but believed simply on the spoken word of God. The man ran home to find his son had indeed been healed. Then, in an attempt to get rid of thoughts of coincidence, asked when the boy recovered. The servant told him that the boy recovered at the very hour that Jesus had told him that his son was healed.

So what does this mean to us? What can we learn from this passage?

First off I want to point out the people who greeted Christ. They received him because of what they saw. In today’s culture we see spiritual superstars rise and fall. Todd Bentley for example, he rose up a very controversial superstar in the charismatic/Pentecostal circles. Were people touched and healed at his crusades? Sure I can accept that. But I believe the fall of his ministry was due to a misunderstanding of the purposes of those miracles. People began to follow the signs and wonders. They were going to his events to see miracles, to see signs, to see demonstrations… not to see Jesus.

Christ did miracles and signs not just for entertainment or just to be nice but to point back to himself and His Father. So was Bentley wrong for doing miracles? No, but towards the end of his ministry in Florida if you noticed things seemed to become more and more about him and less about Christ. More and more his events turned into what people could get for themselves.

I believe that’s why Christ scolded the man in verse 48. The people in the area were starting to follow him for miracles. For what they could get out of Him instead of what they could do to serve Him. Christ was looking for commitment to the Father.

Notice verse 53, when the man had definite proof of the healing performed by Christ, the man and his entire family believed. The signs and miracles are not meant to build man or ministries, they are meant to build the Kingdom. They are called signs because they are signs that direct to the King of Kings.

Promo Vid

This is the promo vid for our kids church when we changed the name from Firm Foundation Children's Ministry to The Deep

John 4:1-19

Ok so right now i'm going through the book of John with my Kids on Wednesday nights. it's been a rough time simply because of holidays. But i'm excited because now the holidays are over so no more weird days missed and what not.

Anyways reading through John 4:1-19 tonight and i decided it might help for me to bash out some thoughts here first before i do it tonight.

So first interesting item up on the table. Jesus sits down at the well and there's this Samaritan woman there grabbing some water. To us no biggie, but then Jesus turns to her and asks for a bit of water

GASP! SCANDAL!!! why? because Jews and kind of thought poorly of Samaritans at the time and to share a cup was inappropriate. So why did Jesus do it? Is it possible he didn't realize who the lady was?

Not likely. first off he was in the middle of a Samaritan area! He could spit and hit one with no problem. Second off and most important HE IS THE SON OF GOD!! HE KIND OF KNOWS THESE THINGS!!

So why do it? Why risk his image of a good respected rabbi to talk to this woman who was clearly beneath him?

To minister to her.

He was willing to face public ridicule just to reach one person. What's cool about it is that he didn't get all up her face and chew her out for doing wrong. He started out with a simple conversation and gradually lead her to the truth.

I think we as Christians need to learn from this. Should the Gospel be presented? Yes. Should we ever water it down? NO! But we should recognize that people respond differently to different things. This lady need to be easily drawn into the truth. Growing up she was probably called all kinds of names and was hurt by many people simply for being who she was. Being the Son of God, Jesus knew this and came to her in love and gentleness.

Don't get me wrong. I do believe there are times for shouting and screaming, but not always. In my humble opinion more people today need a loving guidance than a harsh shove.