tfehrman's Xanga

Friday, February 01, 2008

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:45 GMT

I'm bringing Xanga back - drop a comment if you're with me!

New Plans? New Victory? New.. New... Oh, you get the idea!

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:20:40 GMT

Well, not much to say right now..... I am insanely busy working for a new project I am helpng head up!

If you want more info, go to http://www.thepasao.com and check it out!

!

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 00:01:31 GMT

HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Away for a while...

Fri, 25 May 2007 18:08:50 GMT

Well everyone (who still chooses to bore themselves with this blog), I am REALLY leaving tomorrow morning at about 4AM for Purcellville to intern for Generation Joshua, and won't be home until July 13th or 14th!

So, for those of you who want to know, here is my schedule!

June 1-2, New Jersey Home School Conference with Robert Hogan

June 8-9, SETHSA Houston, Texas Conference with Ned Ryun

*two weekends off*

June 21-23, COLUMBUS, OHIO!!!!!! CHEO Conference with my awesome Central Ohio GenJ Staff- Stop by the booth and see me!

June 29-30, Birmingham, Alabama Home School Conference with Robert Hogan

July 1-7, Ocoee, Tennessee- GenJ Camp 2007

July 7th, Back to Purcellville

July 13th or 14th, HOME!

See you all soon! If you need anything, shoot me an email or IM me.

~Tfehrman

Going away...

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:57:02 GMT

Well dear readers (wait... do I even HAVE readers anymore?), I am taking off from Monday through Friday. I will be at the TeenPact Ohio class as a student from Monday through Thursday, and then will be staffing the 1 day class on Friday!

Keep us all in your prayers, it is going to be a great week!

~Tfehrman

P.S. For now, please read and comment the last two posts!

A New Church? Why Fix something that isn't broke?

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:09:13 GMT

NEWS FLASH:

A new disease has stricken a very large group of people. The disease has claimed the lives of thousands, if not millions of people on a global span. Early
symptoms include:

Indifference
Lack of belief in Traditional Principles
Excessive allowance of corruption
Fear of offending someone
Fear of spreading the Good News
Lack of belief in Moral Absolutes

This disease is contagious, and anyone who comes in contact with it should contact...... umm..... Hey, here's a bright idea! The Bible!

______________________________________________________________________________________

This is something that I would not be surprised to hear as a public service announcement one of these days. It may seem a little far fetched, but it is a reality among none other than the Church itself.

We have begun to see the "emergence" of a "New emergent man-centered religion passing for Christianity" (as one website calls it). The aptly titled "Emergent Church" is one that starts small... it grows on you. At first sight, it sounds great! What could be better than a Church with a totally outward focus?? How about a Church with a totally outward focus that denies absolutes?? From there we begin to see people being sucked into what is now one of the biggest lies told to Christians today.

Sure, we can all hold different views, but where do we draw the line? I was recently reminded by a close friend that it is extremely dangerous to put one's interpretation of the Bible ahead of someone else's... and I agreed with him. But, to quote a letter I recently wrote to someone whom I was talking with about some of the symptoms of the disease:

"Please understand that I am not randomly deciding that my view or
interpretation of the Bible is more relevant than yours. I know that to
do something like that is extremely dangerous, and ultimately wrong.
However, when the Bible gives us a blatant description of how we as
Christians should believe, we are to follow it just as it says. Doing
this is not "putting our interpretation of the Bible ahead of someone
else's," but rather is taking God at his word, and doing as he says.
"

Sometimes the term "Emergent Church" is used in conjunction with the term "Christian Spirituality." To quote the "Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality" on their website:

"The Society for the Study of Christian
Spirituality (SSCS) exists to promote research and dialogue within
the growing community of persons interested in the field of spirituality.
The SSCS is ecumenical and strives to be inclusive of the widest
possible range of expressions of Christian spirituality. Its work
is interdisciplinary, encouraging the application of diverse critical
approaches to the study of spirituality."

ECUMENICAL??? Since when did we completely throw away the whole John 14:6 "No one comes to the Father..." thing??

Rob Bell, one of the "founders" of the
movement, says that:

"This is not just the same old message with new methods. We’re
rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life."

Way of life? Yes. Eastern Religion? Hardly. He [Bell] does not believe
that all the answers can be found in "Scripture alone." 'Brickianity'
is the term he uses to describe churches that emphasize doctrine.

Brian McLaren is the leader and founder of the Emergent Church and "'questions' the biblical doctrine of justification by grace through
faith and has that postmodern belief that it's 'dangerous' to
completely know what the gospel is."

What is wrong with these people?? Sure, it is okay to question our faith, but to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' is ridiculous, and it is exactly what they are doing. Bell's books, some of which are entitled things like: "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith," or "Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality" delve into a completely new world of wholly inappropriate, off-color topics and principles that violate everything that the Christian Faith stands for. To once again quote the letter I wrote:

"We have come to a point where it is no longer a war of political
persuasions, but rather that of one within the foundational principles
held by the Christian Faith. I realize we all are called to love God,
and to love our neighbors as ourselves, but a desire to be so inclusive
and tolerant that there is virtually no sense of Biblical discernment
in terms of recognizing and labeling false beliefs, practices, or
lifestyles is something that is not taught by the Bible, and is wrong.
We are called to follow exactly as the Bible teaches, and we are also
given a distinct view of the character of God through the Bible
(specifically the New Testament, but the Old is still relevant) in a
very literal sense. Each event and happening recorded in Scripture is
to be taken literally. The Bible is not a "mysterious" book that we can
never truly know the answers to, but rather a revelation of the
Character and attitude of God."

We've all heard the interesting phrase that we should not be religious, but rather relational in our walk with Christ... and for the most part, I wholeheartedly agree! But, what we will now call the "Christian Spirituality Emergent Movement" (or rather, the CSEM) takes it to a whole new level! I found an article on Wikipedia (not a very credible source, but evidence from even things like the previously aforementioned website agree with this particular article) that states

"Those who speak of spirituality as opposed to religion generally meta-religiously believe in the existence of many "spiritual paths" and deny any objective truth about the best path to follow. Rather, adherents of this definition of the term emphasize the importance of finding one's own path to whatever-god-there-is, rather than following what others say works. In summary: the path which makes the most coherent sense becomes the correct one (for oneself)."

So, according to these guys, there are many "spiritual paths" to God, and we all deny objective truths! Wow... sounds like quite the PAR-TAY! Or not! These people are Christians! Or, at least they profess to be. We have strict Biblical Evidence that there ARE objective truths, and that they are inescapable! We can't decide right and wrong for ourselves... Hitler and Stalin both tried that, and it really didn't go over so well!

When will Christians realize that it is not for us to decide, to pick and choose, but to watch and wait. To let him teach us is one of the greatest things we can do. It is not for us to decide what our faith mandates, we can't mold it to our interests, we have to follow exactly as it says.

The CSEM movement is crippling us folks, and we have to do something about it. It is killing our Churches.

Friends, keep your Church in prayer. Keep the people in positions of power within your Church in prayer. The enemy is at the gates, and is ready to take us by storm, but with the right tools, and by the Grace of God we will withstand.

Posted by: T. Fehrman

Higher Calling, or Misconstrued Thought Process?

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:28:28 GMT

IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE FROM ME, PLEASE READ THIS.

If you were asked why you do the things you do, would you be able to give an answer?

I was recently asked what I hope to accomplish through being involved in the political arena by an extremely close friend, and I had never really thought of it before. I have always known why I was involved in the civic system, but I had never really taken an in depth look at what exactly I hope to accomplish for Christ through the political arena.

Well, I did, and I have come to a conclusion.

As Christians we are called to Glorify Christ through everything we do, right? Right. Well, how can we make a difference, and glorify Him through the political arena? Will people actually listen to lawmakers? Sure, they will follow the laws, but we all know that you cannot legislate Morality. So, how do we expect our Country to become that of one founded on Godly principles once again if we cannot force people to believe the way we do or follow the same code of ethics?

The answer may seem simple at first, but it isn't. My initial response was to say that "people in power who have authority tend to have a greater influence on the minds of Americans than anyone else because they have been given a means of communication." However, this is not a valid answer.
Just because George Bush or Newt Gingrich come out and say something that I may agree with, the majority of people will probably think that they are completely and totally nuts. What is the purpose then? If myself, or some of my other friends involved i the civic arena are someday able to obtain some type of legislative or executive office, it certainly doesn't mean that people will immediately listen to us! In fact, in this day and age, people are more likely to tear those in authority apart rather than listen to them.

In Romans it says, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is
no authority except that which God has established. The authorities
that exist have been established by God. Consequently,
he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has
instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Somewhere else (pardon me for not being able to find the reference) it talks about how God will not let the Righteous
fall, which is the perfect reason to give everything we have to the
purpose of helping America get back to being "righteous."

If
we are to bow to the authorities established by God, but they aren't
following his ways, how can we be Righteous? The fact of the matter is
that we can't. We cannot return to being a righteous nation without first helping men and women who hold to the same Judeo- Christian Values (not the false 'there is no real moral code so I won't tell you when you are wrong' - 'You don't hurt me, I won't hurt you' - 'peacenik, pacifistic' - 'tree hugging' - 'anti force pansy' type Christianity that is invading our Churches and blinding our Pastors nowadays) that we were founded upon! Some have argued that the Founding Fathers were not men of Godly stature because some random humanistic, human rights junkie historian said so, or because they had slaves (actually, over 70%of the Founders DID NOT have slaves), but since when will we allow these people to re-write the facts based on what they want them to say?

The fact of the matter is that our purpose must be higher than just obtaining a position of power and using it to influence people's minds. Have you ever heard the old Hymn that says "They will know we are Christians by our love"(if you have any type of Church of Christ background you should immediately know it by heart)? Well, that song pretty much outlines what our mission should be. Obviously, if we outlaw abortion and gay marriage it isn't going to stop young girls from having abortions, or gays from being gay... But, if we start with things like that, but also convey our message as a message of Love (just like the old song), people will begin to see what we're all about and we will be able to plant the early seeds of those old Judeo- Christian values and principles that we once held so dear.

I recently went and saw the movie "Amazing Grace" about the life of William Wilberforce. I have always held him as somewhat of a role model, and have always had a small knowledge of the things he did, but this movie brought his life, as well as my own to a whole new light. For those of us involved in the Political arena, it is the perfect example of how we can still be involved in an arena filled with corruption and deviation. We cannot be afraid to tell people when they are wrong, and cannot be afraid to keep pressing on towards our goals when everyone else is pressing against us. We have to stand strong, show our resolve when we fail, and realize that no matter what others may say or think, as long as we are within God's will, we need not move from that place.

So, how do I plan on using my influence in the political arena for Christ? By not backing down, by being within his will, and by standing against the tide when it is high and never giving up.

Victims of Our Own Opinion

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 21:47:20 GMT

What is Political Correctness?? Political Correctness is the death of Principle, and when Principle dies, we have nothing. No Freedom of speech, no Freedom of Religion, no Freedom of Press. All because we are too bent on “not offending” someone. Yes, we are supposed to respect the opinions and viewpoint of others, especially as Christians, but since when is it so bad to talk about Jesus, or talk about my opinions on abortion, gay marriage, and other issues plaguing our culture? I’m sorry if you are offended, but I will not stop believing what I believe, speaking what I think and telling you when my Faith that I hold so dear says you’re wrong. I will do it in Love, but with Love comes Truth, and Truth is not always the most enjoyable aspect of life.

If you don't like elected officials, instead of complaining or protesting, show some respect and next time you have a chance, vote them out! Complaining won't get you anywhere, and protesting probably won't change the mind of the opposition.

Please, allow me to base my thoughts, my actions, the words I speak and the things I fight for off of my Faith. Do not try to silence me. Too often we convince ourselves that we are the victim of someone elses opinion, but in reality if we just got over it instead of making a giant problem out of it, everything would work out easier for everyone. We have become a Nation that cares more about keeping everyone happy, instead of standing for what is right. We weren't founded by a bunch of spineless Englishmen who were afraid to share their opinion, but rather a group of dedicated, offensive, opinionated AMERICANS who wanted Freedom for everyone! Just because someone doesn't share the same ideas or viewpoints as you do doesn't mean they are automatically "oppressing" you, it just means that they share a diferent opinion.

We are an amazing country because we allow everyone to hold their own beliefs. But, that freedom will soon be gone if we don't find a cure for this disease. It has to be stopped now.

Political Correctness = The Death of Principle. The Death of Principle = The end of freedom. The End of Freedom = The End of a Nation.

Posted by T. Fehrman

Alas, tis dawning a new day!

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:45:55 GMT

Well, it is late, and I am not the least bit tired. DARN THOSE EVIL CONSERVATIVES! : )

Well, I havent much to say, other than the fact that I used my Republican Mug today! Yeeeeah!

Oh, and check out the amazing CD!

Funny stuff...

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 01:03:01 GMT

So I don't know if I have told some of you this, but since the Blackwell campaign I haven't been able to sleep well before about 12:30 AM each night. I guess it kind of messed up my internal clock. So, tonight as I talked to Sam, he said "so, still can't sleep?? You're a martyr for Conservatism... I salute you." I thought it was quite funny.... and sadly, somewhat true.

Then, last night as Steak and Shake, Matt says "Tyler is one of those people kind of like a gobstopper... he leaves a sour taste in your mouth..... but then it get sweet." HAHAHAHAHA. Wow......