The Two Thirds Policy
Every so often a professor comes along who seems to understand that if nearly the entire class fails a test then they might be to blame for not getting the information to us in such a way that we can call on it for a test. Such a professor exists here at Liberty. We took our first test in my Comparitive Economic and Political Ideology class last Wednesday. The professor of this class has a policy that if two thirds of the class fail his test then a retake is given. Well, one would think it would be hard to get a two thirds majority out of a nine person class, but it can happen. One person received an A, one more a B, and the third person received a D. The other six people in the class failed the test. Unfortunately I was not that lucky one to get the A, so I am looking to better my standings significantly on Wednesday when I take the retake. I think I did poorly on the first test as a result of the illness I was fighting all week, and the fact that I had two other exams I was also trying to study for. I will say that for the time being this two thirds deal has got to be the best rule I have encountered here at Liberty. Eight days of classes remain before we finally reach that point we all eagerly await...spring break! I am hoping that my French class gets canceled the Friday before break starts, so that I can hit the road a little bit earlier in the day. I am going to be driving the 12 hours from Lynchburg Virginia to Indianapolis Indiana on that Friday. I plan to crash at Josh and Mandy's that night before making my way up to Chicago. I will be in Chicago Saturday night, and then all day Sunday spending some good time with Christina because she is in Chicago for her flight attendent training. From Chicago I will be heading up to Michigan for the remainder of the week to enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation before heading back down here to face the rest of this semester. The Pistons are now 47-9, and are looking better with each game! What a great year for Pistons fans! Au revoir mon amis!
Taking A Break!
What a week! I have a Philosophy test tomorrow, a Comparitive Economic, and Political Ideology test on Wednesday, and a French test on Friday! Winter struck central Virginia for the second weekend in a row. It is odd how the winter has gone here. It snowed the weekend before last, and then it averaged about 60 degrees all last week, then it snowed again this past weekend! I now have a cold, and am ready for some consistency! Last week was very nice! Valentine's day came around for another year. I did not do too much to celebrate the occasion. I met up with my buddy Stephen for dinner then hit the gym, and then I took a shower, and then Christina called and I went over to her house to watch a movie at around 11 that night. The night was not all without it's romance though since I picked up a bottle of wine for us. We each had a glass, and then let her roommates have the rest. It reminded me a lot of Meet the Parents when Ben Stiller was at the drug store asking for a nice bottle of wine. Yeah since it was 11 at night the only place left open that carries wine was the Kroger store! So we had ourselves a nice bottle of $15 dollar grocery store wine. After that night of fun I went to classes again on Wednesday and Thursday, and then me and Christina went to Richmond for the day. We, and by we I mean she, shopped for four hours. After the shopping was done we went to dinner at PF Changs! It was definitely the best meal I have had in a long time. We got the lettuce wraps to start out with, and then I ordered the mongolian beef with a nice glass of merlot to wash it down, and she had the salmon with a glass of chardonnay. Neither of us are very knowledgeable about wine, but I would say that the merlot I got was the best wine I have ever had! Which I guess shouldn't be too hard since I have only had a few glasses of wine ever. Now after that week of fun I am studying and reading. I am starting to look forward to Spring Break!! That's what I have been up to these past couple weeks, and that's why I have not updated the blog. I will be writing more soon, and until then I bid you a fond avoir!
27 Years Later
We all hear the stories of inmates in prisons being set free after serving 25 years of a life sentence because, with the technology we have today, we have figured out that they were not actually guilty of their crimes. What happens after that? What kind of issues does that bring back to a family that has believed the one that committed terrible crimes against them has been a free man that whole time? What happens to most of these cases? Well, for those who wouldn't know the history of this story let me give you an overview. My aunt, on my dad's side, was murdered at the age of 23. She was a college student at the time at Hope College in Holland (Michigan). An investigation, at the time, into her murder was left with no conclusion. There is no resolve in an istance like this, and even though true closure is something that is unatainable you can still have a sense of peace knowing that the person responsible for the crimes that were committed will never be allowed to hurt an innocent person again. For my dad's side of the family there was no closure, nor any resolve. I never met my aunt because she was murdered 27 years ago and I am 21. And even though we put our faith in God that she is in a better place, there is still a sense of despair knowing that this case was never solved. Well, two years ago marked the 25th anniversary of her death. A communications profesor at Hope College decided to mark the time by creating a documentary about the case. When premiered the documentary sparked a desire by police to re-examine the case. The Michigan State Police, along with the Holland police, formed a team of investigators to solely concentrate on this case. The investigators began to compile all information possible, and set out on what was thought to be a, for lack of better words, dead case. However, after beginning to interview hundreds of people, they began to compile a case file which they believed to be taking them further into the case than the original investigation had trecked. Well, to make a 27 year old story short, there was an arrest made last Tuesday. Police arrested a 66 year old man, whom up to this point had no more than a drunk driving arrest on his record. The man has been charged in connection of this case with two counts of first degree felony murder, and one count of first degree premeditative murder. If convicted of these crimes he will serve a manditory life sentence with no possibility of parole. It seems amazing to me that this case could soon be closed 27 years after the deed was done. I guess that this shows us a lot about God's faithfulness. Our God is a God of mercy, grace, resolve, and justice. My grandparents may finally be able to have peace about this dark history that surely must haunt them. However, we can not forget about this man who was arrested. We, as christians, must realise that this man could very well have a wife, children, grand children, and this would be an incredibly hard thing to take if you were in any of those categories. We must make our prayer a prayer of praise for God's resolve, but also a prayer of mercy towards this mans family, and pray that this man might see the love and grace of God through this situation. Pray that my family might be a good representation of the hope that exists in God. The tale has not ended, but merely another chapter is closing. There are still many pages to be written, and time will tell of the ending, and ultimately we will all witness the ending when we pass from this world. There is hope in tragedy, blessing in suffering, and a refuge in a faithful God. http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=50284http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-27/113950038538590.xml&coll=6http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1139415342300620.xml&coll=8
The Trial Of Saddam
The trial of Saddam Hussein has been going on now for some months. Saddam, and his fellow defendants have so far done a very good job at making the Iraqi court system look like a huge joke. Saddam's defense team, which is headed by a former U.S. attorney general (and who says lawyers are corrupt?), has done a very effective job of turning this case into something other than a war crimes trial. There is no way, in my mind, that if this court ever pulls itself together that Saddam can avoid the guilty verdict. I mean if you are going to have your elite forces take out entire villages of your own people...don't videotape it!! There is so much concrete evidence of the atrocities that Saddam has committed that there is no way he is going to avoid them all. This initial trial is only over the killing of 148 Shia villagers in the town of Dujail. Saddam is still going to be tried for many other counts of genocide after this trial comes to an end. Saddam's defense team knows that they can not hold up any arguments against the charges themselves, but if they can do a good enough job of ridiculing the court process and system then they can draw the attention onto the court and it's inability to perform unbiased judgement. For example, there have been at least three different judges that have sat on the bench, but have been removed for various reasons. Apparently the current judge has been told to step down by the defense because he is from the town of Halabja, which was attacked by Saddam's forces in 1988 with poisoned gas. I am not sure how this argument is going to really help Saddam's case, but I guess it will make them pick a new judge restarting the entire process. If the defense team is so sure of the courts inability to make an impatial ruling then how about moving the trial from the Iraqi courts to an international tribunal. Oh but wait, how can we trust an international hearing that is controled by the United Nations? There would be way too much fear of Saddam blackmailing certain UN officials; bringing out their involvment in certain scandals centered around Iraq. Will Saddam ever be brought to justice for the crimes he committed? Who is going to meet their requirments as an unbiased judge? In a country like Iraq there is no such thing as an unbiased judge. You are either Shia, and hate Saddam, or you are Sunni, and want Saddam back in power. There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein is an evil man. I just hope that the rest of the world jumps on the court to stop yielding to Saddam's every command, and that justice can be served. Here is some interesting reading on the life of Saddam Hussein. http://www.emergency.com/hussein1.htm
Ten Dollar Three Piece Fun
After finding some hot hot brown fake snake skin shoes, we had to find some equally hot outfits to go with them. We made our way over to Goodwill, walked through the door, and what did we see? Matching three peice suits! This is definitely the best find I have made while shopping at Goodwill. I got this awesome three peice suit straight from the 70's for ten dollars! The pants were slightly tight around the waist, but after cutting a slot on each side, and a slot in the back I managed to get them done up. We caught some good stares while we were out dressed like this. Watch out Miami Vice...there's two new studs in town!
Defining Worship For One
What is real worship? How do we know what is genuine? It seems like we often get ourselves too wrapped up in trying to create worship that we in many ways destroy it. I have often struggled with keeping a positive outlook on church worship. I find that I am more often turned off to what is being done instead of really connecting with God in an intimate way. For me, being in music is often where I feel closest to God. As a musician, when I am going to be involved in "leading" the congregation in worship I try to get my mind to the right place it needs to be. I don't concentrate on the congregation, nor do I concentrate on myself and my inadequacies. I try to make it a time that is only between myself and God. It seems like we have tried to define what "good" worship is, but how can any definition fit the word? Worship can mean many different things to many different people. Like I said before I find music to be the place where I feel like I really make an intimate connection with God. Is that surprising? Not really because God has given me a gift, and an ability in music that I don't have in most other things. I will often sit alone in my room with my guitar, and I will feel closer to God in this place than in a large congregation. I don't have to be playing anything that has been written directly as a praise song, and often I just sit and play, but in that moment I know that I am connected to God. It is the most pure form of worship I have experienced. Like it is said, it is who you are in the dark, only before God, that really defines your character. This saying is also very true in regards to worship. Worship seems to have become more about the stage and show than about God. We are supposed to approach worship with a humble spirit and mind because we are coming to lay down our hearts to God. I wish that we could for one time just turn all the lights off, make the area completely void of any light, and then begin to worship. Have no elevated few leading the masses, but make it so you feel that it is you and God. People have often criticized me of not being animated enough when on stage playing, but it is not by accident that I am like that when I am on stage. This time of worship is not about me and my guitar, nor about playing to the crowd like in a concert. What I intend when on stage is to ignore the fact that there are hundreds of people standing in front of me. I stand there in physical form, but my heart goes to another place. I think of God, and I pray. I concentrate on the words, and I give them up to the Lord as a prayer. I stand humbly before God as one person because worship is not about standing in a crowd. I lay my abilities, my selfish ambitions, and my heart at the foot of His throne. "Stand with us now and worship." Is there any term more used in worship? Why do you have to stand to worship? Why do you have to sing to worship? It is not about the congregation, it is about you and God! If you don't feel like singing is the way that you most intimately worship then don't sing! If worship for you is sitting still with your eyes closed meditating on words of a song, or scripture from the Bible then do that. If you know that standing and singing is not going to bring you any closer to God then do whatever it is that does bring you closer to God. Worship should be a celebration of God, and the incredible things that He does for us. If you do not feel like you are in a place of celebration when you look at the flashing lights, and have the rhythm pounding in your ears then tune them out, and find that place. Find that sacred ground where you can approach the Lord. That place where you feel like you must fall to your face in shame of being in such a righteous presence. The place where it is you and you alone in the presence of the Almighty.
