The new website for my blog is, www.agapetheologian.wordpress.com. Yes, I kept a similar name. Feel free to check it out! Also, feel free to give me feedback on it! I hope to blog consistently too.
Thank you!
-Justin
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
New Blog (officially)...Sorta Kinda
I am going to be switching over to Wordpress. It is still in the making. But the blog will be/is...www.agapetheologian.wordpress.com.
Thank you Kaitland for your work you did on this blog, and I am sure I may need some assistance with it again.
Within the month I hope to have a completed and updated blog and my goal is to be posting weeklyish.
-Justin
Thank you Kaitland for your work you did on this blog, and I am sure I may need some assistance with it again.
Within the month I hope to have a completed and updated blog and my goal is to be posting weeklyish.
-Justin
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
NEXT 2010
Hello everyone! I know this blog has been inactive and may revamp it soon! However, I am excited for this conference!
Monday, September 08, 2008
Poison of Complaining
Complaint, complaint, complaint…Words screaming from youth and even adults. “That’s stupid”, “Why are we doing that”, “Oh my, what a moron”, “That’s so dumb”, “Why can’t we do it like this”. Complaint, complaint, complaint.
When will this poison stop killing the church as it is today. It has already suffered so much, and the poison keeps spreading.I used to be among the top complainers of my day. However last year I was notified of this sin in my own life and drastic changes had to be made. Do I still complain? I am no where near perfection. However, by the grace of God, my complaining is a lot more rare to catch. I like how C.J. Mahaney put it, complaining is saying God, I don’t trust you. I know your way is not best. However, Lord…I have a solution! My way oh Lord is better…
I hope you see how sick, twisted, and perverted this is. How dare we as created beings talk back to God and say we don’t trust a sovereign God who works everything for good!
Now, some of you may be wondering what the poison is in reference to. We are going to dissect how complaining has effects on the complainer and the ones who hear the complainer.
Phil 2:14 says, “Do all things without
grumbling or questioning”
We may ask “Why”
God replies in the following verse,
“that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God”
So even God warns us against complaining. As I said earlier, when you complain you are telling God you don’t trust in Him and His sovereign will is meaningless. So what does it say to others? The exact same thing.
Complaining is very catching. Say we are in a group and something doesn’t go my way. And I speak loudly and complain about it. What is that going to do to the others in the group? Will my speech point them back to God? Scratch that idea. You will be taking them down with you in sin.
Complaining can also hurt others and may shun them from every speaking up. The picture of my youth group comes to mind. Say a close friend gives input about an upcoming idea and I say, “That was the dumbest idea yet…”
That comment could hurt my friend but it is a lot more deadly then that. A more quiet person is never go to speak up because you caused them to be afraid and need your approval.
If you are the complainer you are not helping out at all. You are a vessel being used to spread this deadly poison. You are not only corrupting the group or friends you are with, but you are also corrupting your very being.
The world is not going to want to join the church if all we ever do is complain. Are we as believers showing Christ and acting like little Christ’s if we are complaining? Since when has complaining ever achieved anything for the good? When has someone come to the Lord because of a complainer?
This poison has got to stop corrupting the church today. When will it stop?
Here is my solution: I am going to echo what I’ve heard from a conference by C.J. Mahaney.
1. Take one bit of scripture.
-In this instance, memorize and or meditate on Phil. 2:14. “Do all things without grumbling or questioning”
2. What is the truth in this verse?
-Answer, do not complain.
3. Within the next following days, evaluate yourself after each night. When you feel the need to complain, remember the Scriptures, it’s your only cure!
(I also urge accountability, confess your sins to one another; James 5:16.)
Will you be the cure or will you just contribute to the poison?
In Prayers,
-AgapeTheologian
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Batman and Halo 3...
Some friends have said, "You didn't like Batman but you play Halo 3?"
That statement hit me and make me think. So, I thank you all for challenging me. Here is my response.
You may say Halo 3 is violent, just like Batman.
Halo is indeed violent. Don't get me wrong. However, I see a huge difference. I hope after I am done writing this short essay, you will see the difference. You may not agree with my stance on Batman, but I hope you see the difference between the two.
What is the point of Halo? The point of all the Halo's is to save earth from domination of Aliens. With that said, Halo is a military game and the point of the violence is for the better. The evil in the game is portrayed as evil and not as good.
That is Halo's campaign which I don't play a whole lot. I prefer multilayer. I think it is more fun.
Now, why do I play multiplayer? First off, obviously it is fun to me and others whom I play with. Now, isn't it kind of violent and bloody? The reason it is violent is because you are using weapons and destroy the others. To be completely honest, you are not even human. You are a machine. There is some blood however.
According to John Eldredge, people have told me that God has put inside a male's body a want for dominance and to be the best. This could be one reason why many males are more competitive than females. I do like to compete in Halo. I do want to honor God. A good friend of mine, Bennett Sweat once said, "I do believe I can play Halo to the glory of God, I just want to make sure I am doing it." So, my good friend points out there are ways that we have played that are not glorifying God.
Batman on the other hand was a totally different kind of violence. Evil looked so good. Killing innocent women was portrayed as fun and that you would have joy in the process. (Read post before for more details) Batman was dark, no one should ever say Lord of the Rings is dark.
The way people were killed was just evil. Halo on the other hand is not evil. Master Chief in Halo is a hero. He is the character you play as in campaign. He is courageous, he is a protector, he rescues humans from the aliens, he is strong, he brings boldness and confidence in the fights to the marines.
When Batman shows up, fear from the civilians arise. No one likes him.
The violence and evil in Batman is not compared to Halo. The two are portrayed completely different.
Halo is shooting to save humans. Or in multiplayer, shooting to get map control and to dominate in the game. Not mere killing for killings sake, or as in Batman's case, murder's case.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
I also do hope you see my heart in this. I do not want to come across as self righteous. I just want you to see a difference between the two. You could even compare the Bourne series to Batman and see the differences.
Like I said in a previous post, if you can watch Batman for the glory of God, by all means watch it. However, I can not watch Dark Knight for the glory of God.
In Prayers,
-AgapeTheologian
Some friends have said, "You didn't like Batman but you play Halo 3?"
That statement hit me and make me think. So, I thank you all for challenging me. Here is my response.
You may say Halo 3 is violent, just like Batman.
Halo is indeed violent. Don't get me wrong. However, I see a huge difference. I hope after I am done writing this short essay, you will see the difference. You may not agree with my stance on Batman, but I hope you see the difference between the two.
What is the point of Halo? The point of all the Halo's is to save earth from domination of Aliens. With that said, Halo is a military game and the point of the violence is for the better. The evil in the game is portrayed as evil and not as good.
That is Halo's campaign which I don't play a whole lot. I prefer multilayer. I think it is more fun.
Now, why do I play multiplayer? First off, obviously it is fun to me and others whom I play with. Now, isn't it kind of violent and bloody? The reason it is violent is because you are using weapons and destroy the others. To be completely honest, you are not even human. You are a machine. There is some blood however.
According to John Eldredge, people have told me that God has put inside a male's body a want for dominance and to be the best. This could be one reason why many males are more competitive than females. I do like to compete in Halo. I do want to honor God. A good friend of mine, Bennett Sweat once said, "I do believe I can play Halo to the glory of God, I just want to make sure I am doing it." So, my good friend points out there are ways that we have played that are not glorifying God.
Batman on the other hand was a totally different kind of violence. Evil looked so good. Killing innocent women was portrayed as fun and that you would have joy in the process. (Read post before for more details) Batman was dark, no one should ever say Lord of the Rings is dark.
The way people were killed was just evil. Halo on the other hand is not evil. Master Chief in Halo is a hero. He is the character you play as in campaign. He is courageous, he is a protector, he rescues humans from the aliens, he is strong, he brings boldness and confidence in the fights to the marines.
When Batman shows up, fear from the civilians arise. No one likes him.
The violence and evil in Batman is not compared to Halo. The two are portrayed completely different.
Halo is shooting to save humans. Or in multiplayer, shooting to get map control and to dominate in the game. Not mere killing for killings sake, or as in Batman's case, murder's case.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
I also do hope you see my heart in this. I do not want to come across as self righteous. I just want you to see a difference between the two. You could even compare the Bourne series to Batman and see the differences.
Like I said in a previous post, if you can watch Batman for the glory of God, by all means watch it. However, I can not watch Dark Knight for the glory of God.
In Prayers,
-AgapeTheologian
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Batman: Dark Knight, Friend or Foe (Updated 07-23-08)
Last night I went to go see the new Batman. It was very interesting. Camera work was out of this world. Acting was phenomenal. Make up was great, but a little too disturbing at times (Two-face).
Now with all this said, how in the world did Batman get a PG-13 rating? Now, I've only seen two Rated R movies, Brave Heart and the Passion of the Christ. Now, Batman is most definitely a R rated movie if I've ever seen one.
Note: What I am going to write is personal preference, if you can watch this movie to the glory of God-by all means watch it.
There is way to much killing of innocent people to justify the movie for me personally. The killings weren't just a gun shot. It was a knife. A pencil through a guys head. The Joker is happy to blowup a hospital (Everyone escaped though). The movie makes killing look joyful.
The one thing that I really did like in the movie was when two ships were out on water. One ship had criminal men on it. The other ship had innocent men, women, and children on it. The Joker set each boat up with explosives and gave the other boat the detonator. They had to decide by 12am what boat would die, if no boat blew up then they'd both blow up. Near the end of the scene, one big tough criminal went up to a National Guard and said something along the lines of, "You don't know how to get your hands dirty. Give me the remote and I'll do something you should have done a while ago." You anticipate him on blowing up the innocent people, yet instead he throws the remote out the window into the water so they can't kill the innocent people.
A little over halfway, a really good buy turns bad. Two Face arises. His lover has died. He now wants vengeance on everyone. Now, this truth is true but the way the communicate it wasn't very good. They said everyone who is good still has evil inside. (What I mean by this is that our hearts are desperately wicked, who can know it?-Jer. 17:9)
This was the darkest movie I have ever seen. I thought Two Face was actually going to pull the trigger of a gun at point blank range to a little sweet kid in front of the father so he would know what it was like to comfort somebody when they would die just like Two Face's sweetheart.
Batman sadly had references to Jesus. Although, Batman is treated like a criminal-in fact he kind of is. He was our protector, etc... Batman did crimes to protect the innocent in a sense. Batman had one rule and almost broke it-not to kill anyone. And the movie portrayed Joker as having no rules and it was much more fun that way.
Throughout the movie, you will laugh at times. However, after you endure through the Joker and his "making someone smile" by using his knife to cut their mouth and then kill them (Thankfully they don't show too much of it), however you hear brutal stories about it, if you are like me and others you will feel sick.
After the movie, I came and had to take a shower at 1am to feel clean. It was that bad for me. I then had to read an up lifting book.
This is my preference of the movie, but I would urge you to check out plugged in at http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0004153.cfm.
Bad looked real fun in the movie...Plugged in did a great job reviewing this movie. Please check it out.
-Agape
P.S. I'm a 19 year old teen who doesn't like this movie...in fact, I should have walked out of the theater and will not watch this movie again.
But again, if you can glorify God while watching it, please go ahead!
Last night I went to go see the new Batman. It was very interesting. Camera work was out of this world. Acting was phenomenal. Make up was great, but a little too disturbing at times (Two-face).
Now with all this said, how in the world did Batman get a PG-13 rating? Now, I've only seen two Rated R movies, Brave Heart and the Passion of the Christ. Now, Batman is most definitely a R rated movie if I've ever seen one.
Note: What I am going to write is personal preference, if you can watch this movie to the glory of God-by all means watch it.
There is way to much killing of innocent people to justify the movie for me personally. The killings weren't just a gun shot. It was a knife. A pencil through a guys head. The Joker is happy to blowup a hospital (Everyone escaped though). The movie makes killing look joyful.
The one thing that I really did like in the movie was when two ships were out on water. One ship had criminal men on it. The other ship had innocent men, women, and children on it. The Joker set each boat up with explosives and gave the other boat the detonator. They had to decide by 12am what boat would die, if no boat blew up then they'd both blow up. Near the end of the scene, one big tough criminal went up to a National Guard and said something along the lines of, "You don't know how to get your hands dirty. Give me the remote and I'll do something you should have done a while ago." You anticipate him on blowing up the innocent people, yet instead he throws the remote out the window into the water so they can't kill the innocent people.
A little over halfway, a really good buy turns bad. Two Face arises. His lover has died. He now wants vengeance on everyone. Now, this truth is true but the way the communicate it wasn't very good. They said everyone who is good still has evil inside. (What I mean by this is that our hearts are desperately wicked, who can know it?-Jer. 17:9)
This was the darkest movie I have ever seen. I thought Two Face was actually going to pull the trigger of a gun at point blank range to a little sweet kid in front of the father so he would know what it was like to comfort somebody when they would die just like Two Face's sweetheart.
Batman sadly had references to Jesus. Although, Batman is treated like a criminal-in fact he kind of is. He was our protector, etc... Batman did crimes to protect the innocent in a sense. Batman had one rule and almost broke it-not to kill anyone. And the movie portrayed Joker as having no rules and it was much more fun that way.
Throughout the movie, you will laugh at times. However, after you endure through the Joker and his "making someone smile" by using his knife to cut their mouth and then kill them (Thankfully they don't show too much of it), however you hear brutal stories about it, if you are like me and others you will feel sick.
After the movie, I came and had to take a shower at 1am to feel clean. It was that bad for me. I then had to read an up lifting book.
This is my preference of the movie, but I would urge you to check out plugged in at http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0004153.cfm.
Bad looked real fun in the movie...Plugged in did a great job reviewing this movie. Please check it out.
-Agape
P.S. I'm a 19 year old teen who doesn't like this movie...in fact, I should have walked out of the theater and will not watch this movie again.
But again, if you can glorify God while watching it, please go ahead!
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