Andrew M. Barnes

A tough question was asked of me tonight…”What does it mean to live a dangerous life for Christ?”  This isn’t a tough question because I don’t know the answer, it’s a tough question because I do know the answer. 

The first answer that came to mind was from the book of James, which just so happens to be one of my favorite books of the Bible.  The verse that played again over and over in my head is from James 1:22:

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”

That is simply a tough pill to swallow.  It’s easy to read that verse and think about other people who should take that verses’ recommendation, its a whole other world to make scripture a constant burden on every action and thought, thus being intentional, in your own life.

In cliche-world, this is where the ‘rubber meets the road’, and where faith is actually practiced.  Christ doesn’t promise that following him will be easy.  Even with faith, a mountain of trust is required.  That trust is what makes faith work and grow in your life. 

Sometimes you just have to walk through pile after pile of crap and just trust/have faith, not that you won’t have to keep walking through the crap, but that by walking through that crap that it will have a beneficial impact on the cause of Christ.

That is what it means to live a dangerous life for Christ.  It’s the only way worth living.

I don’t consider myself the most prolific writer of our times,  my hope would be that most bloggers wouldn’t consider themselves great writers.  However, I would say I’m a great director of information and a rather experienced ranter.  Today, I’m passing along a great article by Jonah Goldberg, Editor at Large of National Review Online entitled The Church of Green. 

Mr. Goldberg brilliantly compares environmentalism with any other form of religion.  He even quotes Bjorn Lomborg, author of the great book Cool It.  This is truely an impressive article that every single person should read, regardless of where you stand on the environmental spectrum.

Here are a few quotes I personally enjoyed…

“At its core, environmentalism is a kind of nature worship. It’s a holistic ideology, shot through with religious sentiment.”

“Environmentalists insist that their movement is a secular one. But using the word “secular” no more makes you secular than using the word “Christian” automatically means you behave like a Christian.”

 ”Never mind that full implementation of the Kyoto protocols on greenhouse gases would save exactly one polar bear…”

Here’s the link.

Oh, and here’s a really funny “blog” that is riddled with sarcasm.  Gotta love it.

Dear Diary,

I’m currently in Nags Head, NC.  Ironically enough, no women are here.

Love,
Andrew
XOXO

PS…Please don’t read this blog entry.

Before I start this particular blog entry, I want to warn whoever might read this, that there will be more indepth entries regarding this subject in the future.  Let’s begin.

Today, Czech President Vaclav Klaus made a public challange to former Vice President Algore to debate him regarding climate change (article).  Algore’s response: “Ummm, I, uh, I’m too busy shining my Nobel Peace Prize.”  Maybe that’s not what he said, but to be fair Algore refuses to debate anyone on the subject.  You would think that the guy would be all about debating people who don’t agree with him that humans are causing the destruction of the planet.  Apparently not.

This isn’t the first time either.

The guy over at JunkScience.com challenged Algore over 2 years ago, with an open invitation to debate the issue of climate change.  Nothing yet from Mr. Gore.  (By the way, be sure to visit JunkScience.com.  I remember I wrote an opinion piece for The University Times that mentioned that website as a source of information.  In the next issue a guy responded to my piece by saying that Junk Science is not a credible source, even though the site is mainly directing you to real news articles and peer reviewed articles.  Guess he didn’t actually goto the site.  Anyway.)

I mean its not like Mr. Gore has anything to gain by promoting his global warming alarmism.
Or does he?

Did you know…there are six different Nobel Prizes, 3 of which dealing directly with science, none of which Algore won.   He won the Peace Prize…because he’s not a scientist…at all.  He made a crappy film with a bunch of errors.  And yes I have personally watched it several times, I even own the DVD.

There is just so much great information out there, not all of it can be tagged in a catchey line or even in a hip Algore powerpoint presentation with a scissor lift.  Here is a great quote from the video from below…

“Some people will do anything to save the earth…except take a science course.” - PJ O’Rourke

If you are really concerned about man-made global warming or climate change then you should watch the following video.  I must warn you, it is long, but it is solid.  Be sure to listen to the question and answer session at the end.  The guy doing the presentation is a climatogolist not paid by any industry or corporation

Remember, there is a difference between doing smart things such as conserving water, recycling resources, reducing pollution, finding new energy sources and not so bright ideas such as reducing the population of the planet to control carbon output or turning corn into ethanol thus leaving the world to have a major food shortage…thanks alot ethanol.
 

I normally don’t just post a music video, especially of the same band two posts in a row, but oh well.  I think I just like what the title is saying, because its not asking, its demanding that you be authentic when it comes to your memories.  DON’T LET YOUR MEMORIES, THE BAD OR THE GOOD GET THE BEST OF YOU…if that makes any sense at all and it should.  I promise I’ll post something more insightful later this week, maybe even tomorrow.  Until then you should try and enjoy this video.  One thing to remember about The Killers, their music videos generally align with the meaning of the song, somethimes you just have to look harder.  This one isn’t as tough.

I consider myself a cyclical kinda guy, especially when it comes to music.  The past couple of days I’ve caught myself shuffling through The Killers, definetely a different sound that I’m use to.  One thing I’ve noticed about their music is the imagery they create through their lyics.  It’s one thing to have a catchy tune, its another to have a catchy tune with original/meaningful lyrics.  Here are a few lines from one of their more popular songs…

“Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it’s just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
Cause I’m Mr. Brightside”

You can probably guess the name of the song just with the last line.  I don’t know about you, but for me that seems like a whole ton of imagery to describe how you’re dealing with jealousy.  Apparently there is an official version to the meaning behind the song…

A tale of jealousy that depicts that moment in a relationship when you realise that your other half might be playing away and this thought takes up residence in your psyche feeding the worst fears and visualisations your imagination can then throw at you.

For enterainment purposes, I’ve included the video for Mr. Brightside.  I prefer the UK version so you’ve probably never seen it.  Gotta love the video effects, simple yet effective.

The more I think about the times in my life where I have gotten the most frustrated or upset, the more I see how the root of the problem is a complete breakdown in communication.  I was going to say it’s a lack of communication, but I could cite examples of having constant communication with someone and having nothing of what needs to be said actually said.

I want more than anything for this post to make sense. 

Here is why I think there are breakdowns in communication.  Pity.  Atleast that’s how the one person will justify it in their head.  I’m not sure how anyone can consider it pity to not tell someone something they might not want to hear but still need to hear, but we all do it.  Just take a second and think about it.  I’ve taken ‘pity’ on others before, of course I’ve been on the losing end of the ‘pity’ game too many times for me to even count.  When the truth of what needed to be said actually does come out, it ends up feeling like a plow digging a trench through that person’s soul.  You may think that is overly dramatic.

I don’t.

What it comes down to is trust.  I think putting trust in someone else is a very honoring and valuable act.  By not communicating what needs to be communicated you have destroyed the trust that previously existed.  It can happen on large and small scales, in any form of relationship.

So don’t pity me, just tell me what I need to hear.  I’ll try to do the same for you regardless.