Passion!

This is basically me typing down some things I wrote down from a Campus Church event I went to at UNL. The speaker was (apparently) talking about passion, and what it means to live with passion. So here it is:

Rarely is passion detached from sacrifice.
What you do now will affect you later in life.
Passion usually starts with a decision that involves action.
Engaging in your passion means you will encounter resistance.
When is the last time your faith cost you? With passion comes a cost.
God doesn't do random. You were designed with purpose and passion.
The life you want will always cost you something.
What will/would be said of you?
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (I think that is in James somewhere.)
Passion - money can represent passion.
Passion is required to pursue God and do His work.
Passion doesn't just happen, it is a choice.
Passion is contagious, and it can be negative.
Things happen that we don't understand or want, but they shape us.
Passion in our culture is rare.
When we look back [on our lives], what will we see?
We often don't live up to the potential (the passion) we have from God.

And here is the set of verses I wrote down:
Acts 16:22-34 - The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

Graduation?!?

Yes, graduation! I will be graduating college soon. That is weird, huh? It seems kinda weird to me at least. But at the same time, I can see it is 'a part of growing up' or whatever, so I kind of knew it was coming. What I'm doing after that, I do not know, but I trust that God has a plan.

This past weekend my wife and I visited a church near Chicago in order to see if it is somewhere that she would be interested in having a job and if they would be interested in having her work for them. She is one of the final candidates for a youth ministry director job, so that is pretty neat! So we have been praying about that, and so have other people, and we are both thankful that so many people have been praying for us and are interested in what is going on in our lives. If you were on of those people, thank you!

In other news, things have been interesting at our apartment complex lately. A couple days ago the water was shut off for a few hours. Earlier this week we woke up in the middle of the night to police lights flashing outside our window (somewhere in the parking lot). We don't know why they were there. So that was fun. Sort of not really.

I guess that is it for now...for those of you who actually read this. If you have any questions you want answered or comments you want to give, feel free to do so! You may have noticed that you have to prove that you are a human now in order to do that. It is a recent change, because I've been getting some spam comments lately that barely pass for English (it is more like word salad) and then have a link on them. No thanks, bro.

I hope you have a good day!
Here is a thought: Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Is belief in a higher power (such as God) required to motivate a person to do virtuous acts?

When I consider this question, my first response is that ethics do not require a person to believe in God or Gods or some transcendent source such as the Dao to motivate him or her to do virtuous acts. I say this because I know a few people who do not have any sort of belief in a God (that I know of) but they still seem to want to do ‘good things’ like help others out or donate money to charity. However, I do know that for two of these friends in particular, I have had conversations with them about what I believe and what they believe, and it seems like they both have what could be described as agnostic beliefs. They both feel like there is some sort of higher power, but there is no definite ‘being’ that they believe in. I am not sure if this belief motivates them to do these good deeds, or if it is simply because society looks positively upon such acts. I have also met someone who claims to be entirely atheist, having no belief in any God or Gods, but who still attends church mission trips because he likes the atmosphere (or something like that). In my brief conversations with him, he talked about how he feels like love is a good thing and likes to be in places and with people where love is common, but he doesn’t want anything to do with religion or belief in any sort of higher power. Again, I am not sure if he simply has some doubts about the non-existence of God or if he is absolutely sure about it and simply wants to help others, or extend some sort of love to other people. Personally, I feel like there is no reason to want to help others if you do not have any belief in God, Gods, or any higher power (and therefore any sort of judgment/accountability for your actions or an afterlife of some kind). To live as if there is no higher power or reason to act in a moral manner is to live as evolution teaches us to live: survival of the fittest. If the only benefit for being nice is to possibly make a friend and have that advantage in life, it does not help a person be more reproductively successful, which is the end goal of life (according to the idea of natural selection, as I understand it). If we are simply ‘meat computers’ (as I have heard it said) and nothing more, then our actions cease to matter after we have died. You can make the argument that doing something ‘big’ will change the course of human history, but every scientist (again, that I know of) agrees that the earth will not last forever, and after the sun expands and destroys this planet, what will be left of our lives? I feel that in a view that does not include God (or any higher power or afterlife), our lives are entirely meaningless. So, to follow that stream of thought would lead to the conclusion that you do need to believe in some sort of God, Gods, or higher power/moral order to be motivated to do virtuous acts. However, as I stated above, I have friends who do not express any belief in God or a higher power, yet still feel motivated to do good works. So either my logic is flawed at some point, or my friends have beliefs that I do not see. Either case seems equally likely in my opinion.

I don't know how to embed.

Just kidding, I remembered..



I hope that will work..It works :)

Alright so, I just watched this video. And I looked at some of the comments (never do that on Youtube if you want to remain in a positive mood) and got pretty upset at some of them. Upset as in disappointed. Irritated even.
I get irritated when people are...unloving, or ignorant, intolerant..that sort of thing. And people seem to show that sort of thing with videos like this.

When people are open and real about their struggles and insecurity, others will sympathize and encourage them. Others seem to be obscenely rude and call them names or make fun of them. That irritates me.

And you know what, it irritates me when I see that same attitude in myself: apathy, laziness, stupidity. What do you think, if God is love, to choose to not show love...what does that indicate? :/
I have seen this in myself way too much this semester. I feel like I have changed in many ways since last spring, in both good ways and bad ways. But I don't feel like I am doing a good job of loving others. I just don't feel like I have done a good job of being a Christian this semester actually. And I want that to change.
And that is going to change.

Because you know what? People are still hurting. People are still struggling. People are still attacking other people. And what am I doing about it?
I know, some of you will say, 'but Nick, you can't do all those things!' And I agree. I can't, and I won't. But if I feel like God wants me to do something about something, then I am going to feel like I am failing until I do that something. And I am definitely failing.

I said, on facebook, that this video has a message for everyone. To those who are suffering, the message is that you are not alone. To those who have suffered, the message is that you are strong, because you made it through that time. To those who are not suffering, the message is that others are still suffering, so what are you going to do about it? To those who have never suffered, I don't know what the message is, because I do not believe you exist. In fact, I am quite confident that you don't. Even God suffers.

frickin frack

I have a feeling that there will soon be a post on here about how much I am not pleased about my life right now. There are things going on that I am looking forward to be done with. I know I have a lot in my life that I don't want (hey, who doesn't?) and I am trying to figure out how to change things for the next semester.

But like I said, this is not that post. This is a precursor to that one. Because right now, I'm in class. And now is not the time to try and get emotional and deep and complain about my cushy life in America. Hush.

It will probably be more of a rant than anything else, but I will try to bold the parts that I want my friends to know...because I care about you more than I have shown lately. You mean more to me than what I have said. And I'm sorry.

Questions about School - Discussion

I must apologize...I feel so strictly formal while typing this. I am not a fan of that. You may notice that I am not writing with my normal tone...I felt that way at least. At any rate, I would like to know your thoughts, and there is one final question at the end :)

Who/What are schools for?

• Giving kids knowledge, teaching them about the world
• Schools are for teaching children about how the world around them works. They learn the rules of language, mathematics, and even physics, chemistry, and biology as they grow older. Schools are for showing kids what is going on outside of their house and outside of their neighborhood.
• Taking care of kids while their parents are at work
• Schools provide a sort of day-care while parents are busy bringing home the bacon. Schools with recess provide children with an outlet for their energy and playfulness, and even for their imaginations while they play and interact with each other.
• Kids, but also for parents and society
• Schools are directly geard towards benefiting the children that attend them. However, as was stated above, schools also benefit parents by providing a means of childcare, and they benefit society by providing knowledge and experience for children to become functional members of society, even though it may not be until later in their lives.
• Kids who want to be there, and for those who do not want to be there
• Schools such as colleges/universities provide opportunities for kids who still want to learn to continue to expand their knowledge of the world around them. They may choose to pay for classes and spend extensive amounts of time learning more about language, math, science, or other people. Public schools, like elementary, junior high, and high schools, on the other hand, may be geared more towards trying to teach an appreciation for learning to pupils who would rather be somewhere else.

How do you know?

As one member of our group stated, this is a short and simple question that is deep and difficult to answer. However, we discussed the following reasons:

• Giving kids knowledge, teaching them about the world
• We see evidence for this from our own experiences. In early education we learn about how to speak with proper grammar so that we can understand others and so that they can understand us. We learn about how math works so that we can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. We learn simple skills early in life so that they may be built upon later, in more advanced classes in later stages of schooling.
• Taking care of kids while their parents are at work
  
• The evidence for this line is seen in parents who drop their kids off at school but then do not talk with their children about what they learned. They do not work with their children on homework problems or help to reinforce the lessons given that day. Then, if their children do not perform up to the standards that are given, the teachers are blamed. Other parents do not seem to have any interest in how their children are doing in class.
• Kids, but also for parents and society
  
• We know this by looking at significant historical figures of the past. A greater education generally leads to a greater involvement and/or impact in society. Children who grow up to be adults that do not understand what is going on around them (whether it be dealing with language, science, or politics) have little reason to concnern themselves with anyone but themselves. If a society is to continue to grow and advance, it must teach the next generation what there is to know, as well as encourage them to want to know more, as the last point shows.
• Kids who want to be there, and for those who do not want to be there
  
• The strongest evidence towards school being for those who want to be in it is seen every day by our class. We are surrounded by a thriving university that only exists because people have decided that they want to keep learning. Colleges around the country, and the rest of the world, would not be in existence if there was not a desire for knowledge among the public. The evidence that shows that schools are for the students who do not want to be there is seen in the legal mandates that state a child must attend school until they are 18 years of age, in the United States. This law is trying to keep kids in school so that they might find what they are interested in and find their passion so that they may continue to pursue it in higher education.

Final Question: If this is what schools are for, are they fulfilling their purpose?

1: Some do perceive divinity, therefore it is part of their reality.

1. Many people ‘join’ a particular religion because they report experiencing a supernatural, or divine, event. Some claim to feel something within them change; others claim having a vision or hearing a voice of some kind. Another group may seem to say that they suddenly see how they have been ‘called’ towards this particular set of beliefs for their whole life, but the pieces are only now clicking together. This experience of the divine is a central part of many religions, and it is nearly impossible to convince someone that their perceptions were faulty. Also, you cannot simply say that an experience was inaccurate, as the same could be said of your own. The argument of skepticism is a dangerous weapon to wield, so I will not go too far into that.

There is also an argument that can be made that what can be perceived by everyone, such as the stars, the earth, and the life on the earth. Some would say that the things of this world/universe illustrate qualities of the divine, and since these are perceptible by all, everyone has experienced an aspect of divinity. Some, however, do not realize what they are experiencing because, perhaps, they have not been told. It could also be that the perceiver is simply choosing to ignore the ‘divine’ elements of the perception, or the reality that is being perceived.

I would appreciate it if you found any holes in my logic. Point them out, please :)