Oh Boy

Following comments made by Pope Benedict XVI last week about the teachings of Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" and that Muhammad taught to "spread his teachings by the sword", there have been numerous protests, some violent, across the world by Muslims. I just read an article on Yahoo News in which Islamic Extremists said, "The Pope and The West are doomed."

Isn't it interesting that the comments which claim that some sects of Islam breed violence and evil produce protests which are violent? Isn't it also interesting that "the West" is synomymous with Christianity when "the West" often fails to uphold Christian values and does not truely live the way of Jesus? Christianity has its own problems with misrepresentation and violence. How can this twisted argument of "the West" or "Christianity" blaming Islam for violence happen?

Speck and plank parable anyone? See Matt 7:3 or Luke 6:41.

Great Article

I found this article on Wikipedia about Judaism and Christianity. It give an analysis of the differences and similarities between Jewish and Christian faith. It is long, but it's a great read. Please check it out here and leave your comments below.

Quote(s) of the week:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
-Pope Benedict XVI

"How can (the Pope) imply that Muslims are the creators of terrorism in the world while it is the followers of Christianity who have aggressed against every country of the Islamic world?", "Who attacked Afghanistan and who invaded Iraq?"
-Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh

"insult ... pushes us back to the era of crusades against Muslims led by Western political and religious leaders."
-The General Instance of Religious Affairs in Libya

This makes me sad.
by the way, the sign in the picture reads, "Christians should remove Pope!"

New Books: Awesome!

I just got a few new books for my birthday! Here they are:

Stand Against The Wind by Erwin McManus


Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (this one is about 1290 pages)

I am so excited to read the lastest McManus book and I can't wait to get my nose into some Grudem Theology. This should keep me busy for a while.

Also! I have been reading Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis. This is a tough one for me. I read the whole thing and I agreed with a lot of it staight up. But some of it I wasn't sure about, so I decided to take a deeper look into what he was saying. Thus, I am now reading the book again, but this time I am reading all the endnotes and checking all of his references and discussing the book with a few close friends and mentors. It is a great book and I'd recommend it to everyone. But, you need to read it carefully. Absorb what he is saying and internalize it. Discuss, question, disagree, agree, whatever. It's a great book.



Happy reading!

20 years ago...

...I was born. Yeah, that's right, my birthday was on Saturday Sept 9 and it was so much fun. Here's why: my girlfriend Sarah took me to an Aviation Museum! Cool huh!

I know, I know; an aviation museum? I thought it was awesome because I'm into that kind of stuff. Here were all the highlights of the experience:

-I got to sit inside a real cockpit of a 747 and an F18(Blue Angels).
-There were real refurbished planes such as pre-1900 gliders all the way to modern spy planes.
-There were real engines from airplanes that were deconstructed so you could see the insides (some produced over 5000 horse power!)
-There were chunks of other cool planes so you could see how they really worked.

Overall, I found the whole museum fascinating.

Urbana 2006

This December, I will be going to St. Louis to attend the Urbana Conference. This conference is a gathering of missions organizations and young adults who have a heart for reaching the globe with the hope of Jesus Christ. I am looking forward to the speakers and the opportunities to see what God is doing across the globe. It isn't for a few months, but I will be updating my blog with what I experience at this amazing event. Please pray for me though, because it costs about $700 and that a lot of money for a college student.

A Conversation

Last night I went running with a friend and when we got back to his house we bumped into a buddy of his from high school. He was in his car and decided to stop to say hi to my friend. After I was introduced to this guy I found out that he works with a guy I know who apparently just broke up with his girlfriend. (Note: my friend introduced me as "a friend from church") I asked who the girl was and I was very surprised at his response.

He didn't tell me who she was. All he said was, "Well, she isn't a church goer, so you probably don't know her."

Wow. After this guy left, my friend told me that he was very anti-Christian and even had done a speech about what was wrong with the Christian Faith. This event perfectly portrays the image the church tends to paint in the world today.

Questions, comments, hearsay?