A Good Reminder to Christians

I know this article is speaking more to pastors and church leaders in general but I believe that all Christians should be aware of how the public perceives us. Are we the ones putting people off Christianity with our actions? Or are we encouraging people to come to the Lord? People watch us like hawks! Our lifestyle is being scrutinized every minute of the day. Something that might seem small to us, or even not harmful, can be viewed by someone else as un-Christian-like-behavior, and thus make people believe that we are hypocrites. I will always remember this one experience that happened to me when I was 16 years old. I was at a friend’s party, I had been going to youth group for about a year, but I was still what you’d call a carnal Christian. One foot in the church and one in the world. Like all “good” parties there was alcohol involved. Because of my upbringing I have always viewed drunkenness as a bad thing, a sign of weakness, but alcohol as a substance to be enjoyed and drunk in moderation. So thanks to my parents I went through the peer pressures of adolescence without being drunk once. At this particular party though, my friends had decided to get me drunk, it was the goal of the evening for them. So to have them back off I accepted a drink, it was drink I would have normally accepted even without that “goal” of theirs, but what I did is I acted drunk. I became louder (if that’s possible ;op) than usual and more flamboyant. Apparently I was convincing as my friends backed off satisfied. An unexpected thing happened though, a friend that I had met through youth group arrived. He was a young man that was searching, attracted to Christianity but unwilling to commit. Well he saw me “drunk”. Later I found out that he’d gone up to a friend of ours stating that he was so happy to see me drunk because if I was drunk it was alright for him to be drunk too! My appearing to be drunk gave him the permission to do the same with a good conscious. This whole situation was kind of a life changing experience for me. I decided that my “friends” who were on a mission to get me drunk were no friends at all, as they were not respecting my principles. And the fact that my actions had given a weak brother in Christ permission to sin, was such a wake up call to me. I hope that few of us out there need to have those types of wake up calls. Anyway I was going to paste an article on here but it seems like I’ve written one myself, LOL. The article is on how young Americans aged 19-29 view Christians. Let’s face it, American or not, most young people in the Western world view us this way. This is the link to the research paper. Let me know what you think about it. If you have any stories yourself, please don’t hesitate to comment.

Refugee Camp

This week we have been hosting a refugee camp for Afghan families up at Porto Astro, and it has been a tremendous blessing. All of the worries about having Muslims on the property, that we felt prior to the beginning of camp mounted up to nothing, it was smooth sailing all the way through. There was joy and laughter everywhere we turned, except for the occasional child crying after having fallen and scraping his knees. It was strange having all the women walk around in head coverings and our staff dressed so modestly that shoulders and knees weren’t even showing, all this in the effort of becoming all things to all men as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:22b.
Every day we allotted a "man free" time period at the beach, between 17:00 – 18:00 for the women to go swim, as otherwise they would have been unable to do so. What a joy it was to hear them scream with pleasure as they first entered the sea, some for the first time in their lives. To see them play in the water like little children with their faces beaming in the sunlight, is a sight I will be slow to forget. Furthermore, what a joy it was to see all the children playing football with our staff, running around chasing each other with not a care in the world, allowed to simply be the children that they are. We also set out one of the ski-boats last Monday and took groups out for rides, again, the smiles on their faces were absolutely priceless! All in all this camp was an absolute success and one that we will definitely repeat in the future.

During one of our morning staff meetings Alex Macris shared his dad’s original vision for Porto Astro. The property was to be used to bless people from the Middle East. It was to educate and equip godly men and women, form the east, before they went back to their respective countries to share the good news. Praise the Lord for Costa’s vision came to be realized during this camp as this was the first time we hosted such a large group of Muslims. Costas' legacy and awesome work lives on. What a challenge it is for us young people when see how one man, Costas, can make such a difference in Kingdom work. We need to take hold of the torch that he has passed on to us and keep running and tackling the work that the Lord has set before us since the very beginning of time. As I complete this thought I want to leave you with this; How can you make a difference in this world? It only takes one person burning with passion to make a life changing impact on so many others.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as this was only the first camp of many this summer. To follow there will be a children’s camp, a teen camp, a leadership camp and a camp dedicated to our friends the Germans. Pray also for continued safety and for unity within the body of workers up at Porto Astro and in the office, as dissension is one of Satan’s most powerful tools against us. Pray also for Operation Joshua’s preparations as well as Operation Gideon 3; China Challenge. I also would like to ask you for personal prayer, as our trip to China is coming up fast, to pray for the financial needs involved with that. Praise the Lord, though, as I have about 52% of the finances needed to go.

It is such an encouragement for me to know that you are our there praying for us all, and His awesome work, that He has allowed us to be a part of.
So thank you all for your prayers.

Totally Brilliant

I found this on the internet as I was doing some research. I just thought it was a brilliant answer and so I wanted to share it here with everybody - enjoy!

Is Hell Exothermic or Endothermic?

Dr. Schambaugh, of the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical Engineering, Final Exam question for May of 1997. Dr. Schambaugh is known for asking questions such as, "why do airplanes fly?" on his final exams. His one and only final exam question in May 1997 for his Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer II class was: "Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof."

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

"First, We postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, then you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant. Two options exist:

1. If hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.
2. If hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the quote given to me by Theresa Manyan during Freshman year, "that it will be a cold night in hell before I sleep with you" and take into account the fact that I still have NOT succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then Option 2 cannot be true...Thus, hell is exothermic."

The student, Tim Graham, got the only A.

LOL!!!!!! Like I said - BRILLIANT!!!!

Harry Potter

OK so major accomplishment - I’ve just finished reading all of the Harry Potter books! It took me a month and a half but I’ve done it. Sunday I read the last 100 pages of book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I loved the books, and I think that JK Rowling is a very talented writer. She is able to captivate her audience and keep them from page one. I, for one, definitely want to own the whole series and I can’t wait to reread it.

Since I’ve been reading the books, I’ve had a few conversations with some Christian friends. One of them told me that the names Rowling uses in her books are actually names of demons. Being curious as to which names were actually demonic, and whether that was accurate information, I started doing some research. As I was looking for information I found a couple of sites claiming that the books are in fact a manual to witchcraft, or more specifically, a manual to Wicca.
I had heard that concern before and, to be honest, as I was reading the books I was on the lookout for any red flags that might pop up. In my opinion, there were no red flags and I would definitely allow my kids to read the books, albeit I’d wait till they were bit older because of the violence in the stories.
I found an online “track” that supposedly an ex-witch turned Christian, wrote. And since she is one of the loudest people out there, and I believe she is the one that started the whole Wicca and demon thing, I read what she had to say.
According to her, these are the actual names of demons: Azkaban, Circe, Draco, Erised, Hermes, and Slytherin. Now I did some research and this is what I found:
The name of Azkaban which is the prison within the fantasy world, is derived from Alcatraz, which is a prison off of the coast of San Francisco.
Circe is a goddess in Greek mythology that can turn people into animals.
Draco is the latin word for dragon, it is also a constellation.
Erised is simply desire spelled backwards.
Hermes is another Greek god
Slytherin is a dorm within the story. The dorm symbol is a snake and what do they do? They slither, hence slithering or Slytherin.

All the names that I researched have some kind of a meaning behind them pertaining to their specific character. The names are usually taken from ancient mythology, whether Greek or Norse, or they are French, Latin or Greek in origin. An example of that is one of the more clever names, Sirius Black. Sirius can come from the Greek seirios, which means burning, but it is also the brightest star in the Great Dog constellation. Sirius is a man that can change into a black dog, hence Sirius Black becomes, and ultimately is, the black dog. Rowling has obviously researched her names and I think she does so brilliantly.
Voldemort is also a good example. The name is compiled from French; vol de mort, or flight from death, which is the one thing that the character is aspiring to do - become immortal, he is fleeing from death.
I think that the people that are trying to pass the names off as some kind of demons are going a little bit awry. I realize that some of the names in mythology, whether Greek or Norse, might be actual demons but they are also literary names within the common language, which is where, I think, Rowling got them from.

As to the books being a manual to Wicca, I highly doubt that. Anybody who has been around actual Wiccans and spoken to them about their religion would know that they do not use broomsticks, or wands, or even use their own innate abilities. Wiccans call upon “spirits” (which, incidentally, I do believe are demonic) to do their bidding. In Harry Potter, a witch or wizard is born with magical abilities, sort of a gene X factor. This reminds me more of the X-Men than actual Wiccan practice. Wiccan’s also believe in a god and goddess, which Harry Potter makes no mention of at all, actually there’s not even a god in the whole story. Now the books tell a story about a magical world, whether Rowling gets ideas from Wiccan practices, I do not know, but she probably did some kind of research to gain ideas for her plot. She probably researched myths, other religions, and even children’s books, but as far as I can tell the story is not a manual for Wiccan practices.

I have to admit that there are probably more cons than pros to reading Harry Potter but still, I think that every Christian needs to make his or her own choice. Although it makes for a great read, and I’m a sucker for good stories, the fact of the matter is, the plot does deal with the occult and magic which is something the Bible is clear about:

"There shall not be found among you anyone who
…practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer,
or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist,
or one who calls up the dead.
For all who do these things are an abomination
to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD
your God drives them out from before you.
You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.
For these nations which you will dispossess
listened to soothsayers and diviners;
but as for you, the LORD your God
has not appointed such for you."

Deut. 18:10-14

I shall say one more thing though. If you are reading, or planning on reading the books and don’t want to know how the story ends don’t read this following part.

Once you’ve read all the books and reflect on the story you realize that it starts with a prophesy about a boy that will be the end of the evil Lord Voldemort. The evil “king” seeks to kill the boy but doesn’t succeed. The boy is forced into “exile” among people that are not his own, muggles. Starting to sound familiar? He comes out of “exile” and takes his place amongst his peers where he starts learning about who he is and what his life is about. At the end of the story he faces Voldemort, not as an adversary, but as somebody willing to sacrifice himself to save the world and especially all of his friends that he loves. He dies, but he rises again. Now his sacrificial love protects his remaining friends from evil and in the end he kills Voldemort. To me, although the imagery is not exact, there is still an analogy of what Christ did for us on the cross.

Like I said, this is something that every Christian needs to discern for him- or her- self. I loved the books, and I thought that they made for a great read.

I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on the matter, please comment!