so...how are y'all doin? this is actually a test to see who actually looks around on xanga anymore...haha. anyway...i just got back from worldview academy this past weekend. there's quite a few things i could talk about. overall, it helped me to trust Jesus more. it seems like such a simple thing, but i looked at myself, and i was arguing Christian arguments with people for no reason. my eyes were set on nothing. it's important to remember why we are on this earth, and that after all, it's not about us.
         for the past couple weeks i've been looking at knowledge. looking at careers and college and being successful in America. only, success has a much different meaning today than it did for first of all the old testament Jews, the disciples, the early A.D. Christians, and even Catholic serfs. for them, there was no question as to whether work was an end or not. but for most of them, their faith and hope in God was what caused them to keep on working. i was shown a picture of a waterside house and a garage with five corvettes. that is Americans definition of success. yet, i speak on shifty ground here because it seems like all of us go into life looking for the American dream. through college, and into a job that will not let you down. what then? well, then, we're just better off in this world where education is everything. that's what i have against college. college means everything. that doesn't look good in another hundred years. more education, more success. and it looks simple now. you just go to college. yet i've had several people tell me that you shouldn't go to college if you do not know for sure that you really want to. very well then. what if i don't want to. i have said "i don't want to end up as a plumber. i don't think i want just a lowly job. that's why i think i'll just go to college." now i am eating my words because i see college as a trap for people who somehow derive "identical to the world" out of "in the world but not of it". so anyway, i would not say "don't go to college". i would only say, be careful about your reasons, especially that they include Christ. i stop here because eventually this would turn into a theocracy argument, and that idea makes me very angry. very  angry....hahaha...just kidding. actually i might not be, i don't know...anyway...as i was saying it's important to remember why we are on this earth. i'm not so sure that it's either Christian government, or persecuted Church, or bust. that definetley seems to focus on Christian betterness. our spiritual well being is certainly better than unsaved people, but that is the extent of it. yes, we do less bad works and more good works, but it seems clear that we still are not better people because of it. anyway, i'm sorry if this jumbling of words is hard to follow, but the heart of the matter, in all corniness or cheesiness or truthfulness or whatever way you want to take it, is whether we are seeking for our worldly success, or the spiritual success of the INDIVIDUAL. that's why planting seeds can be more important than immediate conversion to Christianity of a person after talking with that person about their soul.

simply read the beginning and end of Paul's letters to find out his perspective of working for success.

 this is part of a great piece of music called Elijah by felix mendelssohn.

ahaha! caleb, you crack me up. ah....so, nothing so different from the usual is going on. just school and the lot...say, why don't you all who check my site tell me what you think of any candidate that is now running, from ralph nader to john mccain. i'm writing a paper about the elections, and it would be interesting to have other peoples input or insight or whatever. uh...teach's play is going ok. it is about that time of year when our director's face gets more red however. but we're definetley farther along than last year. uh....no more poisonings, no more barber shop torture in the bathroom...as usual, i love it when a plan comes together...so uh...get back to me about those candidates.

the question has been asked me recently,"are you still alive?". i respond. i think i am still alive. but that can be debated. get back to me on why and maybe we can start some kind of arguement.