Went down to Florida the past week and just got back earlier today.  I’ll see if I can’t start updating daily again.

It’s sad that it is an event such as this that I must update.  I would much rather be able to post an update about how miracles are being preformed and the sun is shining on everyones life’s and how people all over are happy but I can’t.  The world isn’t perfect and with there will come a time for death.

Sometime last night a student at our school passed away.  Shock, tears, and much more ensued.  Personally when I found out I was very shocked and more thoughts than I could even begin to imagine began to run through my head.  I knew the person for many years.  I can’t say I was a friend of his, I didn’t hang out with him, I didn’t know him well enough to know the kind of person he was but even still I could tell by the reactions of the ones who did know him well the kind of person he was.

This whole day I’ve not been able to stop thinking about death and so many other things.  And that common thought comes to mind.  Death is real.  It happens to everyone.  And sadly it comes to some sooner than we think it should.  I’ve been reminded today just how precious life can be.  And I’m beginning to see just how lucky I am to have not lost someone who is very close to me.

I can’t and don’t want to imagine what it is like to lose a child.  And the thought reinforces itself in my mind again and again today.  We’re not guaranteed a set amount of time.  Death happens and we have to be extremely careful about how we’re living our life’s.

As I look back though on my life.  I’ve known a lot of people that have died but now for the first time I know someone to have died at the same age as me.   And it does hit home.  I know that it just as easily could have been me.

And to wrap this up.  For the first time in a long time I don’t know what to think about it all.

It’s been a long time hasn’t it?  Well anyways I’ll do my best to post more regularly.  So I’ve now entered the final quarter in my junior year and I’ve began Teacher Assisting.  Which is a class called service learning at my school.  Basically you help grade papers other stuff like that to help out which ever teacher your helping.

Yesterday instead of grading papers I helped put 500 Cheerios in 30+ Ziplock baggies.  So you must be wondering why?  The teacher I’m helping is a youth pastor and his church last night had a 30 hour famine.  So what are the Cheerios for?

According to what he had said some 15,000 children 5 and under die from starvation a year.  The youth at his church will use 30 of the bags and put each Cheerio on a string and stretch it out to see just how much 15,000 is.

I personally think this is really cool.  I mean after counting out all the Cheerios for what took about an hour and a half I told some of my friends I’ve never seen that many Cheerios in my life.  And then I thought, “If this is 15,000 Cheerios then I don’t want to imagine how much 15,000 of the children that die of starvation is.

Years ago when my dad was a youth pastor our church did a 30 hour famine but I didn’t have a chance to do it.  Now after all those Cheerios two things have happened.  I’ll never look at Cheerios the same again and I really want to participate in a 30 hour famine one day.

So any of you ever done a 30 hour famine before?  What was it like?  Anyone got any good Cheerio stories?

First off it’s been too long since my last post.  I’ve gone on a bit of a break for the past week or so but I assure you I’ll start posting on a regular basis again.  Now I’m writing this rather late (or early in the morning) because I’ve 1.) Just got back from one of the best concerts I’ve been to and 2.) because tonight a thought that I’ve been having for a very long time was proven to me.

So I went to see Decyfer Down, Thousand Foot Krutch (probably my favorite band), and Skillet.  Three amazing bands all in one night.  Needless to say it rocked.  And what made it even better?  All three bands did it for the glory of God.  And first I want to share what the lead singer from Skillet said because I just thought it was a cool way of looking at it.  He said a lot of times he doesn’t say that Skillet is a Christian band because they aren’t a band “just” for Christians but for all.  I thought that was cool.

Anyways on to what this is all about.  As we all know there are things in this world that you just can’t prove.  God is one of many.  Now before anyone gets mad.  Let me say, there are things in this world that I think show that God has to be real but for some people there is never enough evidence for them to believe.  But I’m here writing this right now because I KNOW God is real and I’m going to tell you why.  I’m not here to prove God and I know I’ll never be able to but I’m here to share my experience and how I know.

For a long time I would get this feeling.  Not a “I’m hungry” feeling or “I’m doing something good” feeling.  It was something a lot different, a lot greater.  You see in this past week I’ve been to two concerts.  (The other one was Apologetix.)  And in both I felt that feeling and it was so very big.  I’ll describe it the best I can.

I’ll be doing something, and it’s not always just in a Church or at a Church event.   I’m not always doing something that is to glorify God.  It’s not always when I’m helping out people.  And a lot of times it’s when everything is pointing to a dead end and when I just know that this is where it all ends.  It’s an amazing feeling.   It delivers shivers down my back but at the same time it’s like a hand is rested on my shoulder.  Just to tell me that everything is well.   And it may sound crazy but it’s a feeling that delivers hope.  As if God is there, hand rested on my shoulder, ensuring me that he’s not going anywhere.

And maybe no one else has that feeling, maybe you’ve never had that feeling.  But I’ll tell you this.  There will never be a way to prove that God is real until the day that he returns.  But until then when the time is ready, he will let you know.  I myself have been a Christian for many years.  And even though I’ll never doubt in my mind any of my beliefs it’s always nice to get that feeling that just re ensures you of everything.

See I don’t know if it’s the same with anyone else but simply that this is how I know.  I know because of the feeling I get that is unlike anything I’ve ever felt and it’s the feeling that proves to me what I believe.

So until next time God Bless and keep living for God!

Earlier this week I received my copy of Ted Dekker’s new book Adam.  If you don’t know what it’s about then here is a link to it on Amazon with a description.

http://www.amazon.com/Adam-Ted-Dekker/dp/1595540075/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206645271&sr=8-1

Well I finished it last night and while I’m a newer fan of his work (I plan on catching up on all his novels this year) I’ve got to say it’s one of my favorites of his.  Of course I’ve only read 3-4 of his so that may not mean much.

Anyways I’m not here to do a book review.  I’m not going to spoil anything but actually want to just make a brief comment about a quote that was put on the back pamphlet of the book.  It reads:

“The detail is stunning, pointing to meticulous research in FBI methods, forensic medicine, and psychological profiling.  We have to keep telling ourselves that this is fiction.  At the same time, we can’t help thinking that not only could it happen, but that it will happen if we’re not careful.”   -   David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna authors of The Dark Sacrament

The book focuses on demonic possession.  And as I read what I just posted above I thought to myself.  They’re right.  I mean there has been cases about demon possession and some can be easily cast aside as bogus but others have to be seriously looked into.

And I think what really sparked my interest with this book was that this was not just another book that had a villain that just didn’t seem real.  While this does.  I’m no expert with demon possession or anything (and on that matter I wouldn’t want to be.  I probably wouldn’t be able to handle watching an exorcism take place.) but I know that this is something that has happened and will happen again.  We’re warned in the Bible that Satan’s minions are all around us.  Waiting.  And what I liked about Adam was that it showed just how worried we should be about demonic possession and the sort.

Not to mention it’s really got me interested to learn more about real life cases and the effects that it’s had on people.  Throughout the book there are references to another book called.   Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans.  References were made to the book and to the author and I didn’t think it was real but turns out it is.  Which makes me want to read that book now.

And lastly I’m left with this as I finished that book last night.  I really truly am happy to know that Satan loses in the end.  

Today my group in programming class finished our game that we have spent the past 5 weeks making.  If you’ve read my previous post about programming then you know a bit about how I view programming.  If you haven’t then go ahead and look at that.  Anyways we completed our game  today. (Just a simple 2d side scrolling game with 5 levels)  As with anything else I had a great feeling of achievement.  I could go into a long story of how we finished our game but I’ll just say that with four days left to finish we had very little done.  And what could only have been called a miracle we pulled through and completed everything.

The feeling of having not given up and completing the task set before us was amazing.  It brought me back to late October.  For those who don’t know me I love writing and write almost everyday.  While I have not gotten anything published I do hope to one day.  I’ve written two novel length stories and the first of which was completed last October.  Completing that left me with one of the most amazing feelings.  I was finally able to sit back and read a story that was all from me and it was complete.

So what am I getting at anyways?  It could be seen as a lot of things.  In this I could be telling you to never give up.  Or to relish those moments where you feel on top of the world.  Or maybe I’m just telling you to never be afraid of what task it is that lies ahead for the reward is much greater…..wait.  Let me repeat that.

Fear not the task ahead for the reward is much greater.   Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

I know I’ve heard many people say it.

2Ch 15,7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

Well what do you know.  It’s in the Bible too.  In the past few weeks I’ve begun writing my third novel (with hope that I may have the courage to send this off to a publisher).  While it is still a very long ways from being finished I have begun to see a theme of sorts expose itself.

As stated before I believe that everyone has a purpose and thus this reigns true with my story.  It seems as if the underlying message is turning into one that shows that everyone does truly have a purpose for being in a certain place at a certain moment and that there will be a reward in the end.

I think a lot of people overlook that verse and many verses like it.  It’s so very simply yet I wonder if many people even think about it often?  We are all faced with daily challenges that test our abilities.  And yet so many people just give up or give in.  They think the mountain is simply too hard to climb.  People tend to forget about perseverance.

We’ve all heard people say.  Don’t give up.  And remain faithful.  Here’s why giving up is so bad.  Yes that means you quit but it’s so much more than that.

-  Giving up is failing God.

-  Giving up is failing yourself.

-  Giving up is telling yourself that you CAN’T do it.

-  Giving up is keeping you from realizing that not only you could do it but that the challenge was not nearly as hard as you thought.

It’s these reasons why we can’t just give up.  And so with that I think we should make that verse.  Verse of the week.  Or at least something to remember as you go through your daily life.  We a challenge presents itself think long term.  Think of the greater reward that is waiting for you.

I am what many would call a Nerd.  Which by the way I take pride in this fact.  Hence my name here being Nerdboy.  Anyways since last August I began taking up programming.  I started with Visual Basic.  Then started learning HTML and CSS.  Now first off you don’t need to know anything about programming to understand what I’m about to say so please continue.  As the months went by I began to notice a common thing in every programming language.  They all have their differences but there were a few things that stayed the same.

No matter what language you use you have to be very organized.  I’ve found out the hard way many many times that if you are not organized then the entire program can fall apart before your eyes.  Another thing is order.  If you have just two little pieces of code switched then just like with organization your program will not work.  And the third thing I noticed is that no matter what you are making there is always more than one way to do it.

I then began to make a connection between programming and us.  You see we, as you all may well know, are very very complicated structures.  And as we all know if one little piece of coding in our DNA is out of place then something could very easily go wrong.  Kind of like a baby with a birth defect.  As I learned more and more about programming and began to see just how long it takes to not only learn a specific programming language but also to make something with it I realized just how amazing life is.

In school I have a project in which I must build a full website in HTML, CSS, and a lot of other languages that are used to make websites.  I’m not yet done but a simple 15 page website has taken me from the end of November up to now and there is still one month left to work.  You see I realized that even something like a website takes an enormous amount of time and then I think about this.  A human is so unbelievably complicated that I will refuse to believe that some kind of evolutionary glitch made our DNA change in such a manner that instead of being apes and what not that we are now human.

You see the idea that all of these things just happened keeping in mind that, just like a program, had to be in perfect order and perfectly organized is just simply untrue.  The chances of this happening are so slim that there is no way that this could have possibly happened.  The way that our “coding” was put together so well makes me believe that it took a true miracle to pull off.

So what am I trying to get across here?  I think after many months of experience with many different programming languages and making a few different programs I think that we are, in a way, walking programs.  We are all made up of this highly advanced coding and even though each of us came to be by different sets of code we all came to the same conclusion and that is life.

So on this Easter weekend where we celebrate the fact that Jesus loved us so much that he would die for us just so he could spend eternity in Heaven with us.  Remember this.  Be thankful that not only do we have a God who loves us and sent his only son to die for us but be thankful that we also have a God that put together the most amazing “program” of all.  Life.

Happy Easter everyone!

So as this series reaches it’s in it is time to bring this all together.  Whether it’s television, music, video games or even movies we all have been drawn into the media.  It is here to stay and will quite possibly get worse and worse as the years go by.

Now is all of the media bad?  No, not at all.  And just as well watching tv and listening to music and playing video games and going to the movies are great ways to enjoy life.  That is what they are here for after all.  But what we must be careful about is to not let these things control our life’s.

Looking back on this first series there have been parts I thought went well (the music part) and then there were other sections I didn’t like how they turned out at all.  (TV and Movies.)  Expect another update tomorrow.  Tomorrows update is something I’ve been planning for a while.  Until then goodbye and have a very Good Friday!

Movies, we’ve all seen too many to count.  Whether it’s based off a book, game, tv show or even a brand new idea we’ve all seen movies and many times we can relate to them as well.  But as time passes and as we all more and more sex, and violence into the media the movies follow.  Once there was a time when a girl with a skirt not reaching to her ankles was horrifying and now here we are with ESPN swimsuit edition and much much more stuff.

But with movies it’s everything.  If there is one type of movie I completely and utterly dislike it is horror movies.  And heres why.  The premise is always the same.  They always have a group of teenagers in which there is always a “dumb blond”.  And the “most appealing” girl always finds herself in a scene where she just has to have as little clothes as possible.

Last year 300 came up and I went to see it a few weeks later.  It was quite possibly one of my favorite movies I’ve seen.  But heres the thing.  The amount of violence in it was insane yet realistic.  You see if 300 was simply a made up story then things could have been very different for I think people may have reacted a lot worse to the violence.  Just like another movie that’s just a few years older.

The Passion of the Christ when first released was very very controversial.  People complained about the violence and more.  But as I told my mom last night.  The movie is historically accurate.  They did treat him like that and in a way I find it just another way to show just how amazing of a sacrifice Jesus had made.

When it comes to movies there are many different genres to choose from.  And not all movies have bad things in them.  These are often times called family films but there are some that really are great movies.  Movies if you look at it are much like tv.  The things in them continue to get worse and worse.  But if there is one thing I worry about with movies it is this.  The pornography industry is huge.  And I’m sure will continue to get bigger and bigger as time goes by.

You see (and I’ll touch more on this tomorrow with the series wrap up) when it comes to movies it is much similar to all other types of media.  Theres the good and theres the bad.  A violent movie or a horror film isn’t going to do much at all to you but if (like music) you allow it to influence you in bad ways then we see bad coming out of movies.  Do I have anything against violent movies?  For the most part no.  I see a lot of violent movies myself but what my friends and I both show is that we can watch these types of movies without becoming violent ourselves.  I often wonder what would happen if others would be able to have self control and not allow influences like that in.

Remember to come back tomorrow for the series wrap up!

Whether it’s Tetris or the latest game out on the market we’ve all played them.  Games go back a very very long time.  Although video games haven’t been around as long playing games has always been an activity for many.  But as we enter an age where the line between reality is slowly becoming harder and harder to see are video games a bad thing?  Many would say yes.   I however would disagree.

After Columbine had occurred a man by the name of Jack Thompson stood up and said that video games were the cause.  And he has continued to do so with every school shooting.  But he’s not the only one.  In fact recently there have been people trying to pass laws in certain states to ban some games or M rated games.

Now I’ll come out and say as a teenager I am naturally very much into playing video games.  In fact I’d say everyone I know play some kind of video game each day.  But is it a bad thing?  Are these video games hiding secret messages making us want to be more violent?  Are the game companies trying to turn us into murderers?  I for one doubt it.  If the game companies are trying to do anything it’s to make more money.

Heres how I see it.  Do video games turn us into serial killers?  Not quite.  But are games perfectly innocent?  No.  Some people are definitely more prone to losing their selfs in the game but for the most part what you see in video games will only be as bad as the movies or television.  I don’t think that video games caused school shootings or other crimes.  In fact when it comes to school shootings most of the kids who carried out the shootings actually didn’t play games or very rarely did.  Which comes to my other thought in which that no matter what it is there can’t be just one thing to blame.  If you take a school shooting for example it could have been a lot of things.

It could have been games, neglect from parents, they could have been beaten by their parents, maybe they had no friends, people could have made fun of them too much, and the list goes on.  I hear a lot of people put the blame on one thing when it comes to crimes but if you break it down there are multiple factors in each case.  Each thing contributes just a little bit but never is there a single cause.

Now there are others who will just say that video games are bad.  An “unchristian” thing to do.  Which this I’m sure probably adds to the fact that way too many people look down upon Christians as a whole.  First lets break this down to just the word game.

If you have a pet then just watch it for a few minutes.  Any animal for that matter.  They play around.  Cats, dogs, whatever the animal is they play.  Why do they play?  For the fun of it.  You see I told a friend of mine the other day that I think there are things in this world that are here for the sole purpose of us being able to have fun and just enjoy life.  Movies, television, music, video games.  They are all here for our enjoyment.  We don’t need them but they are a nice added bonus.

When it all comes down to it.  Video games are good things to be able to busy yourself when theres nothing else to do.  But just like the other categories in this series we have to be very careful not to let it become a way of life.  We have to be careful not to let it to control us.