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popejr630
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Name: John Roger
Birthday: 5/14/1982
Gender: Male
Interests: Jesus, Deanna, music, frisbee, biology, teaching, movies, games
Occupation: Student
Industry: Medical
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/2/2005
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| I thought this was quite amusing...
Theological Theories
My Cajun
friend's theory is that Jesus was a Cajun
because:
1. He
liked to serve fish to his friends.
2. He could make his own
wine.
3. He wasn't afraid of water.
My black friend
believed that Jesus was Black because:
1. He called everyone
"brother".
2. He liked Gospel.
3. He couldn't get a fair
trial.
My Jewish friend had good arguments why Jesus was
Jewish:
1. He went into His Father's business.
2. He lived
at home until he was 33.
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and
his
mother was sure he was God.
My Italian friend also
had good arguments w hy Jesus
was Italian:
1. He talked with
his hands.
2. He had wine with every meal.
3. He used olive
oil
My California friends argued that Jesus was a
Californian because:
1. He never cut his hair.
2. He walked
around barefoot all the time.
3. He started a new
religion.
My Irish friend then gave his arguments why Jesus
was
Irish:
1. He never got married.
2. He was
always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures.
But
Tami had the most compelling evidence that Jesus
was a
woman:
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was
no food.
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a
bunch
of men who just didn't get it.
3. And even when he was
dead, he had to get up because
there was more work to
do. | | |
| Note: The following editorial is
not directed against my beautiful wife or anyone else in particular for that
matter. It is a general observation that
I offer some personal reflection on. In
fact, we all share some responsibility in correcting this. I rarely publish things like this, but
thought I should on this topic.
Based on a
conversation this weekend, I have been thinking about our society’s depiction
of men. It seems to me that in the past
men were portrayed as the leaders and heroes.
They were the ones that both male and female aspired in some ways to be
like. They were respected and had
authority. Father figures were in
control and competent. They were
reliable and trustworthy.
However,
now we seem to be in the “Homer Simpson” generation. Men are dumb and stupid. They are selfish and short-sighted. Women are constantly shown whining about
their men. Complaining that they can’t
get their husbands to work, that they don’t help with the kids, that they can’t
fix anything. The women are the anchor
of the family now, the men are nothing more than large children. Women save the day in our movies now, women
are the successful ones. And this is
certainly echoed in real life as well.
Tulane has more females than males attending college. So going beyond the media we indeed have seem
a generation of men now who either can’t or won’t lead and often drop out of
college and other endeavors.
Why the
shift? Certainly gender roles have
changed…and in many ways for the best.
Equality is a vital concept, but what equality is established by making
men to be so dumb? Then we come to a
chicken and egg concept. Which came
first, media’s depiction of dumb men, or the dumb men themselves. The most likely is answer is a co-evolution
of the two.
Quite
frankly it makes me sick! I can’t stand
to hear wives sit around and talk about how much of a failure their husband
is. They cut him down and advertise his
faults for all to see. No wonder he
gives up. Why would anyone want to fight
to overcome their shortcomings when their number one fan and partner is
shouting from the rooftop what an idiot they are and how unromantic they are
and how unthoughtful they are? That sure
doesn’t motivate me.
I wish I
could say that I myself am free from this temptation, but God has to continue
to work on my critical nature in others as well. In fact Matt DeGier’s observation that the
things that most aggravate me are probably the things I’m most guilty of has
been true many times. But my point here
specifically is to make a plea for all wives, sons, daughters…etc. to stop
cutting their father down in public. I
understand we men aren’t perfect and we have indeed let people down and failed
them in ways that no apology can cover.
However, either leave us completely or help and encourage us. Don’t be the tormenting gum on our shoe that
we can never be rid of and that slows us down.
Please also
understand that sharing your stresses and troubles with others is a needed and
healthy habit. However, more often than
not it seems like we are too ready to share how awful others are and not how
incredible they are. What if we boasted
about our loved ones more than we lamented about them. What if when we got together with people of
the same sex, we spoke highly of our spouses instead of having a venting
party.
Thoughts,
comments, derogatory remarks?
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| Over the past several months I've realized that I have a vending machine God theology in my head. Of course this sounds ridiculous when you verbalize what you think, but it's interesting how we operate on these silly principles. I have been working on developing my own devotional life as well as some couples devotional time with Deanna. In doing that I had this mentality that since I am now spending more time than ever in prayer and reading scripture and worshiping that I would just be overflowing the wonderful things like:
1.) the ability to immediately know when something/someone is of God and when it is not
2.) incredible flowing in the Holy Spirit
3.) never sinning again - ever
4.) always keeping an even temper and casually working through all disagreements
5.) having people get saved by my very presence in the room because God's spirit is so strong on me
I mean really...is that so much to ask for? Isn't that what God promises in scripture for those who pursue Him??
However, God is not a vending machine. I should not expect that just because I put in my dollar (that is, as soon as I find a crisp dollar and get it to face the right direction) that I have the right to demand and expect to get my white chocolate kit kat when I think I should get it. In fact, He is not less of a God is the candy I didn't select gets stuck and I have to put in another dollar to get something I didn't even want out. What if I wait and wait and wait and wait and don't see any visible changes? What if things actually start to get worse and worse and worse and worse? What then? What is my response to that? Do I call maintenance and ask for a refund? Or do I realize that He is not a vending machine God that I can command and control and use how I see fit?
I am seeking to do that later. I aspire to realize that despite the return (or the apparent lack thereof) that I am seeing, that God is still God and my seeking Him is still training me to follow His ways better and to know Him more intimately. In the end I have always found that I get exactly what I need exactly when I need it so why should I doubt just because my prayers seem to cause all hell to break loose within me. | | |
| As many of you know, our washer and dryer are in a shed behind our house. So, the other night I went out there and saw a cockroach party going on in a corner. All the who's who of cockroaches were there. They offered me a spot at the poker table, but I only had some change that I found in the dryer...so I couldn't ante.
Anyway, as I watched them I suddenly noticed that one of them was quite different. He was entirely white! An albino cockroach! I thought this was way cool. So, I asked him if he was born with that condition, or he had been scared from someone turning on a light too quick. He informed me that there is actually no such thing as an albino roach. He was simply molting at the time. Apparently when roaches molt, they are completely white until their new shell hardens and they become dark again. I wished him luck on the process, he said, "thanks." So, that was pretty cool. Here are some pictures I found online about this process. And remember to be careful of the white ones...they don't even have their protective shell yet. Plus, they're just trying to help you by cleaning house and picking up all the things we messy humans leave behind.
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| So I was thinking at church on Sunday that there are different kinds of light. In particular I was thinking of a lightning flash vs. a flashlight with a steady beam. I think Jesus has called me to make sure I have a steady stream of light coming from me...even if it's not the brightest vs. having a brilliant display of light every so often. Lightning is very exciting and it definately gets people's attention,  but it is rather hard to follow.  When it flashes, people react, but I doubt that any could say exactly where it came from or how to get there. That is unless you're very close to the strike, in which case you are likely to temporarily seeing and hearing impaired.  But, if I set up a flashlight somewhere, it may not get the flashy reaction, but people always know it's there. People can see exactly where it's coming from and how to get there. It may not get quite as many people's attention, but those who it does attract will know exactly where to go to find its source.
Just thought I'd share that with Xanga land for whatever it's worth.  | | |
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