Self Confidence

I have interesting conversations with my friends. When those conversations and the blog topics of certain respected bloggers coincide, I think it is probably something that God is either trying to tell me, or is trying to tell somebody close to me. So here it goes.
II Corinthians 3:4-6:

"Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

If any of you have known me for long, you will know that I am extremely self confident, almost arrogant (though I am truly not arrogant or egotistical, I just joke about it). However, I see a lot of people day in and day out, some people who are even good friends of mine, who don't have any confidence in themselves. This pains me, because they struggle as a result and often bad mouth themselves. I am not saying that everyone should be as confident as I am or be as outgoing as I appear to be. Far from it, the thing I would love to see is that everyone would realize that we are all worthless, however, we have worth because God finds us worth his love.
Self Confidence, self esteem, competence, its basically all the same thing. As a friend of mine put it one time "America is just one big self esteem factory". Don't like something about yourself? Get some plastic surgery. Feel like you are worse than everyone else? well, you probably have a clinical disease. There is probably a pill for it. Thats America for you. Have low self esteem? Well, we can probably fix that with the WRONG THINGS!! Drugs, alcohol, there really is an endless list of things that people use to give themselves a boost. The truth of it is, there is only one thing that can really give you the kind of confidence in yourself that people want. The confidence that God died for you.

I know that sounds cliche, but its the truth...

Finally!

Its about time the music industry figured this out!
Qtrax

Wow...

I don't care if you believe in Global Warming or not. I love God's Irony. It seems to me, that ever since Global Warming has sprung up as the new "cause dejur " that every time a global warming protest happens, its snows.
Join in the Fun

Just real quick...

Because in the last post, the question was raised, I thought I would do some research and explain why Washington D.C. does not have Representatives or Senators in the U.S. Congress.
The answer lies in one of my favorite documents, the United States Constitution, Amendment 14 Section 2, and Amendment 17. I will paraphrase for your convenience. "The U.S. Senate/House shall be composed of Senators/Reprasentatives elected by each state."
The reason the District of Columbia cannot be represented in either the House or Senate is because the District of Columbia is not a state. If Districts could be represented, Congress would have the power to create districts wherever they please. This would cause increased turmoil because it would decrease the power of the states in federal government and increase the power of the controlling party of congress (because they could bolster their power by creating districts that would elect more democrat or republican representatives or senators).
This is why Washington D.C does not have representation. I do not condone the "taxation without representation" of these people. Unfortunately, "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." This gives congress free reign on taxes.
Another interesting part of our constitution regarding D.C. is found in the 23rd Amendment: "The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment"
Say what you will about what is right or wrong regarding the lack of representation for D.C., but I think that President Bush and the Congress has done the right thing by not granting D.C. voting rights because it is not constitutional.

Calling All Conservatives!

A lot of people are being fooled by the rise of Mike Huckabee and what looks like a Christians dream president. It is my belief that Huckabee is not what a lot of people think he is. While I do not endorse Fred Thompson just yet, I think that this blogger has raised sufficient evidence and proof of evidence to show that Huckabee is not a Conservative and is not going to govern as such.
An Open Letter to Conservatives and Evangelicals
I will blog more on this subject in the future, especially as the primaries continue, but for now I will let the above article speak for itself.

A Commentary on the Church

Now, after watching that, most of you will probably think this is a joke. If you really know me and how I feel about that movie, you will be guessing that I am no more joking than I am being serious. The truth is, while you would think that is just a bunch of good acting, think about it. According to the Bible, that is what church is supposed to be like! Dancing, singing, rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord! Of course, James Brown is not going to be the Pastor that leads us there, but that is a glimpse, I think, of what church should really be. 

Lets face it, the church today is in a pretty disorganized mess. I don't think it is going to get much better till our generation takes control and even then, we will have our hands full. My question to you guys is this, What can we do? How can we make church what it should be?

I personally think that there needs to be more concentration on the arts. Not just music, but film, painting, photography etc. I think if the church wants to have a chance, we need to use the weapons that God gave us to fight for the lost souls of unbelievers. 

I would like to read some of your thoughts on this. 

And Now for something, well, you get the picture!

I think things in the culture side have been covered well enough to take a break from that. Today I want to move into another subject that I am passionate about: politics. 

As you may know, it is Election time and the whole country is wrapped up in the debate over who will get their party's presidential nomination and who will be president overall. While I could blog about that, I think instead I will write about something a little more interesting to me: My platform as a candidate. 

Over the years, I have watched and listened, trying to learn as much as I could from the gifted thinkers around me. One thing in common that I find increasingly important in a candidate is character. People don't want the person that will tell them what they want to hear just to get their vote. They want someone who will take a stand. That is what I want to bring to our nations government. Realism. However, it is easy to say one thing and do another, so let me demonstrate by putting out my "platform" issues. Keep in mind, these issues are liable to change as the years progress, but for know, lets assume I am running for office in this years election on the issues of the time. 

1. Taxes. Our government takes in and spends trillions of dollars every year. It is my opinion that too much of that money is taken in, and a hugely excessive amount of money is being wasted. The answer to this is to abolish the IRS and institute a "Fair tax". I would tell you all about the Fair tax and how it could better our country, but for times sake, I will move on. If you are interested in the Fair Tax, got to Fair Tax.org

2. Immigration. I look at the state of our country today and I see a huge problem. Our country is being overrun by people we don't know. We have people coming into our country and sucking the life out of our infrastructure and causing huge problems. Its not just the fact that people are coming in, its the fact that we don't know who they are and its the fact that because we don't know who they are, we don't know what type of person they are and if they have a criminal record or not. I think it is extremely important that we take control of our borders before we become a province of mexico. 

3. The War. A lot of people may not think that this is as big an issue any more. I, however, think it is important that we finish what has been started by our president. Regardless if you believe the war was "just" or not, I think the important thing to do now is to finish it. We are on the verge of a great victory that is striking fear into the hearts of our enemies. The fact that we still have the power to unseat a regime in less than 24 hours scares countries that wish us harm. I think it is important that we finish what we have begun in Iraq, if for nothing else but to not let anyone ever say that America quit or that America cut and run.  

Other Important Issues: 

Abortion. I am Pro-Life, but I don't think that Federal legislation is necessary. I believe it should be up to the people of this nation. 

Education. I believe that the Government School system is a failure and should be abolished. I think the government should shut down its government schools and then sell its school facilities to private and christian schools. This will lessen the money spent by the government and will ensure a better education for our children. 

Corruption in the Government. I believe that the current U.S. Government needs another McCarthy to clean up corruption. I believe there should be harsher penalties for people who are taking bribes and are granting favors. I do not see how any government can govern justly with corrupt individuals are in it. 

Gay Marriage. It is my belief as a Christian that Gay Marriage is wrong. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I do not think our constitution grants its citizens the "right" to gay marriage. I believe, however, that our citizens, not our Federal Law makers should decide on a ban of Gay marriage. 

Congratulations on reading that.