What happened to the real church?

What happened to the church? I mean that, what happened to the church I used to know? When did we scrap the Hymnals, convicting sermons, and closeness that used to define churches? It's like overnight the church has become a commercialized event, that is more entertainment than house of God. Remember the last time this happened? Jesus was furious and destroyed everything in the Temple. Now, I'm not saying that anyone is selling animals in churches or anything, but we are doing the modern day equivalent. Book stores, coffee shops, and million dollar youth rec. centers now run rampant in churches all across America. Most churches wouldn't be caught dead without coffee and doughnuts for their parishioners, but they would never think to give that money to the people that need it most. I'm pretty sure than when the Bible talks about giving back to God, it's not so those giving the money will benefit more; but, we do it anyway. Why you might ask? It makes us feel good that's why! That's right, people get a warm fuzzy feeling when they drop their weekly check in the offering plate as it goes by. We feel as though we have done good by "giving back to God". We trick ourselves into believing that the money we give is going to God's work...cause I remember God telling us to give in order that believers may benefit...don't you? People have somehow missed the commandments to help the poor and who cant help themselves. I have been hearing sermons almost every Sunday since I was born, and I have yet to hear a sermon on giving to the poor. I have heard multiple sermons about giving our "10%" and giving to the church, but nothing about giving to those outside the church. Did we somehow miss that God's whole life was spent healing the poor, feeding the hungry, and befriending prostitutes and tax collectors? I feel as though we have, because those are the same people the church loves to ignore.

Well, I have a test to study for so I need to go. This is not the end of my thoughts on this subject, so I will be writing more later. Until that time, please think about this and what you can do to end this epidemic in our churches. Thanks, much love.

Where have all the mature believers gone?

What happened to having mature conversations between believers? Seriously! I'm fed up with the people over at the christianity.com forums. They have warned me and Chase because we made violations to the website rules. What are our violations you might ask? Well, I started a feed on "Is swearing wrong?" and said s*** and crap in one of my posts. I said them as an example to explain my point, not to be vulgar. I compared the two words to prove mt point. My comments were read out of context and I was warned for breaking the rules. Needless to say that this didn't sit well with me and Chase. So Chase tried to put a link to his blog so we could talk about it there. They people in charge liked this even less, so they kicked Chase off the forums completely. At this point I was so frustrated I didn't much care what that people at christianity.com said. So I started posting for Chase. This led to a warning again and they told me to not discuss the matter on public forums. So I proceeded to post a reply that said, "I love the censorship of this website. Yah for no freedom of speech!" A few minutes after this happened I was kicked off the site for good. I was not allowed to explain or give a reason for my actions, I was just removed. Narrow-minded enough for you? When did Christians become so narrow-minded that we can't even have adult conversations anymore? I find it childish and completely ridiculous. It's like people don't want us to ask questions about our faith but just accept it. I find that very dangerous and harmful. If we don't ask questions, then it's not our own faith; and, if we don't have our own faith, then who's is it?

What is a missionary?

What is a missionary to you? When I say missionary, what comes to your mind? Many people I know, when asked this question, would say that a missionary is someone who spreads the gospel to people all over the world. This is true, but this should only be part of the definition. The sad reality is that for many people, missionaries and non-missionaries alike, this is all they do. Now don't get me wrong, I am all for preaching the gospel. We are commanded to do it and it is necessary to do as Christians. We are called to do much more than this though. We are called to minister to the whole needs of a person. In the Hebrew language the word for this is "Shalom". "Shalom" basically means being whole in every area of life. This includes wholeness of spirit, body and emotion. This idea of "Shalom" was God's original plan when he created the earth. Everything was to be whole and complete. When Adam and Eve sinned, that wholeness was broken. I believe that we as Christians are called to try to restore that wholeness in people's lives.

The problem is that many missionaries don't see people's needs as being multi-layered. My biggest problem with some missionaries today is that they think church planting is all that needs to be done. I understand that they have good intentions, but this makes no sense. Let me give you a real life example, I talked to someone about a year back that had just returned from a trip to Africa. She said that she had to be very careful about calling herself a while she was there, because the term "missionary" had a very negative connotation. This was because there had been many missionaries to the areas she had visited in the past that came only to build churches. She said that there were people all around that had no clean water, were starving, and had no houses to live in. Despite all of this need, the only thing the missionaries did was build churches! Are you kidding me?!?! The missionaries were so driven by their own agenda, that they failed to see the needs of the people all around them. This begs the questions: "If the people are dying, how will they come to know Christ?" and, "Is someone having a building to worship in more important than daily food and water?"

The needs in the community I spoke of were not being met. Therefore people were not coming to Christ, because there was no love shown for them. These missionaries came in, built churches, and left. There was no concern for the physical and emotional needs for the people. The people saw this as the missionaries not caring for them, so they developed this negative feeling towards missionaries in general. I find this to be very upsetting. How could such great needs go so unmet? How could they ignore the suffering and poverty around them? I can not answer these questions, so my goal is to change people's view of missionaries.

I want a missionary to be known as a person that shows God's love through teaching, assisting, counselling, and preaching to the people that need it the most. It is proven that people who are helped at the same time they are ministered to, are much more likely to come to a saving knowledge of Christ. So that is my mission, to change what people view as missions and missionaries. I want to be a missionary, but I don't want to build churches. I want to help people become self-sufficient and through this, show them the love of God. After all, it was the poor, sick, and outcasts that Jesus ministered to the most.

I'm a crazy hippie that wants to spread God's love "to the least of these"...so don't try to get in my way.

Why do people use the term "Christian"?

Something I have been struggling with lately is the term "Christian". Most people with the same basic beliefs as me would call themselves a Christan. Why do we call ourselves Christians? It's funny when you begin to think about it because most people have no idea where the term "Christian" comes from. From talking with professors and doing reading of my own, I have gathered what seems to be an accurate explanation of the word "Christian". In the Greek, it means "little Christ". My theology professor, Dr. Eckley, said that in the time not too long after Christ's death people were many times deemed "little ______" (depending who or what they followed). For example, some people were called Herodians because they supported Herodian rulers. Therefore, they were "little Herods". I really liked this thought of Christians being little Christs. At the same time, however, it disturbed me. How many people claim to be Christians, yet show no signs of Christ-likeness? I can imagine that God would be ashamed at these people claiming to be "little Christs".

This issue is the reason why I have started to dislike the term Christian for myself. I feel ashamed that I would even attempt to compare myself to Christ. I am not worthy of being called a "little Christ"; in fact, no one is. That is why I have started to detour from the term "Christian". Now I want to make it clear that I find nothing wrong with people who call themselves Christian. I just feel for myself, that I would rather be called a follower of Christ, or follower of the Way, as many were deemed in the New testament (Acts 9:2; Acts 24:14, 22). Another reason for detouring from the term "Christian" is that many people throughout the world, especially Middle Eastern countries, call America a Christian country. I understand why they say this, but I feel that America is far from being Christian. I don't want to be seen as the same religion as many people in America. Lastly, like Muslims, Christians are often thought of as all thinking the same. This couldn't be further from the truth. There is such a vast difference between some people that call themselves Christians. I want to be known for my faith, not someone else's.

I would like to know how other people feel about the name "Christian". What is your reaction to the origin of the word? If you are a follower or Christ, how do you feel about being called a Christian? I am especially interested in the opinions of people who are not followers of Christ: If you are not a follower of Christ, what does the term "Christian" bring to mind? Does the word "Christian" have a positive meaning? Anything that you thought while reading this post would be greatly appreciated. Please comment!

Food for the Hungry...future job?

This week at school we are having "New Vision Week". It is a time to learn more about missions around the world and how we can become involved with them. In the Campus Center there are a bunch of booths set up advertising different missions organizations. I chose to visit the booth for Food For the Hungry. The man running the booth was named Mark Klink. He is my new favorite person, and I'm not kidding in the least bit. We started talking about the different things his organization does and that led to an hour conversation on all different things. We also ate dinner together, along with Matt, and talked for almost 3 hours. We talked about a lot about two programs I'm interested in, Hunger Corps Missions and Go ED. Semester Abroad. Both of these programs I'm seriously considering. Actually, there is going to have to be a lot to stop me from doing them.

The Hunger Corps is like the Peace Corps but with a Christian organization. They do work in many areas of need, like medical, business, and social work. The Hunger Corps is my exact vision for what I want to do with my life. They are a humanitarian relief aid organization that also shares God's love with the people they help. Their concentration is on the true needs of people like food and water. I really like this because I have been contemplating the Peace Corps for a long time. The biggest difference between the two, other than the religious aspect, is that Peace Corps pays you to do it. Hunger Corps on the other hand makes you raise your own money, usually through support. I like this because it teaches people to rely on God for their everyday needs, like we are told to in the Bible. People learn what it's like to have true faith, because there they have no steady income.

The other thing I found out a lot about is the Go ED. Program. This is a semester long study program in Africa. During the semester you work in Uganda, Rowanda, and possibly in Ethiopia or Kenya. During the program you take one class for three weeks and then switch to a new class. You do this for three classes and then at the end of the semester you do a practicum in the country of your choice. It looks like an amazing experience. I would really like to do this as well as Tanzania, but I'm not sure at this point if it's possible.

Crash

Hey guys, sorry I haven't written in forever. I have had a lot to do and I have been experiencing a lot of writers block lately as well. Anyways, I watched Crash for the first time last night. Like everyone told me, it was a great movie. It is fully deserving of it's 30 awards including Oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Editing, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly of the Screen. For those who haven't seen it, it a movie about the lives of about 6 different people/couples and how there seemingly unrelated lives are so intricately intertwined. I really like one of the taglines which says, "Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other." This perfectly describes why the world can seem so big and yet people can never run away from their past of problems. We are bound to collide. The movie shows the need all humans have to contact with others. No one wants to be alone, everyone wants to be touched. Don Cheadle says it best in the first line of the movie, "In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something." This movies exposes humanities reliance on others. No one on earth can live life on their own. Many people may say that all we need is God, which is true, but God gave us others for a reason. If we were meant to be alone, God would have only put one of us here.

Another big theme in the movie is racism. Almost everyone in this movie is biased racially at one point or another. I think it is important that everyone is portrayed as biased at some point (I say biased, because I think racist is such a strong term). It is human nature to make judgement about other people who are different. Race is the most obvious of human differences. We all make judgments or assumptions about other people at one point or another. It doesn't mean you are a racist, it just means you are human. The whole point is to not let those difference or assumptions control our actions or lives. I think this idea of everyone being biased is best shown when Anthony (Ludacris) is talking about people being racist when he leaves a restaurant. In his dialogue with his friend, he shows his own racism and biased towards white people, and later East Asian people.

It was interesting how the movie also used tragedy or traumatic events to truly wake people up to true life. Every character has either had their life threatened, a family member die, or their life as they know it destroyed. Through these events the characters find out what it truly means to live. Life means more than just accumulation wealth. This is best shown through the life of Daniel. Daniel is a static character that most people can easily relate to. He is a locksmith that comes in contact with a couple of the other characters. It is understood from dialogue that he was from a dangerous part of L.A., and is now living in a different neighborhood that is safer for his family. I enjoyed his character because it was clear he has worked hard to get where he is and he truly loves his family. He showed that life is about family and enjoying life.

This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I felt as though it was a real life portrayal of what life is like for some people in L.A. It opened up my eyes to the fact that racism is not always as we see it. In the times we think we are being discriminated against, we may be doing it to others as well. I also liked how the movie showed that L.A. is so big, but it is smaller and more intertwined that most realize. Well, let me know what you thought of the movie. Please comment!

Visit the christianity.com forums

Just as a follow up on my post about polygamy, I would encourage you to visit this christianity.com forum about polygamy. There has been a lot of interesting comments and arguments brought up supporting both sides.

Another interesting question brought up on one of the forums is if modesty standards are dictated by culture or not. I have commented on this issue and, as many of you probably expect, I think it's culturally dictated. I don't see where the Bible says, other than New Testament Law, how people should dress. It says that we are not to cause others to stumble; but, what I might call immodest, in some cultures is perfectly normal and is not looked upon as something sexual. For people that think it's an issue of right or wrong, my question to them is: What is the right modesty standards for Christians? I think anyone would have a hard time answering this question because it varies even within people in America. Some see women wearing pants as wrong, while other see it has acceptable. In any case, the forum is interesting and you should take a look!

Christian morality

Is there such thing as Christian morality? This question was raised during my Intro to Christianity class the other day. As I thought about this more, I realized something that was surprising to me. There is NO such thing as Christian morality. An example used in class was when a student said that killing another person is something that is purely wrong. My professor, Dr. Eckley, said in response, "What if someone hits another person with their car on accident, the person is killed, but they had no intention of hurting anyone? Has the person driving the car done wrong? Have they sinned?" The response most people would give to this is no. The person did not wrong because they did not meat to kill anyone, it was clearly an accident. This would show that killing someone is not purely wrong, but it's a matter of the motive behind the action. There are numerous other arguments that support this that I won't get into on this post. I just found this an amazing revelation that Christian moralities are non-existent. Whether something is sinful or not is all a matter of the motive behind what someone does.

If you have any arguments that you think combat this, please let me know! I am continually redefining my own theology and I want to hear every side of this issue. Even if you think I'm crazy let me know!

Afican news

Please visit Chase's blog to read up-to-date news on Africa. For those of you that know me, or look at anything in my blog, Africa is very close to my heart. It is a continent that is overflowing with tragedies that much of the world either doesn't know about or chooses to ignore. I have felt a call to open the eyes of my friends and anyone I know to the travesties in Africa. So please, don't be another ignorant American and go to his blog and do something to help the people of Africa. Thanks, much love.

Message from a former terrorist

Tonight we had a former terrorist speak at Houghton. It was extremely interesting! His name is Dr. Tawfik Hamid and he was born in Egypt in the early 60's. Since he was born to secular parents, he first started to explore the possibility of God in his mid-teens. Being in Egypt, Islam was the most popular religion and the first one Dr. Hamid turned to. He was recruited by JamahaIslameia (JI), a terrorist cell, when he was still in his teens. JI was led by Dr. Ayman alZawahiri who is now second only to Osama Bin Laden in Al-Qaeda. Dr. Hamid was taught the ideas and beliefs of fundamental Islam. As he grew in his maturity and learning, he decided that the violent teachings of so-called "radical Islam" were wrong. He could not ignore his conscience and ill feelings towards the taking of another life. He then began to speak against the violent teachings of radical Islam. After Dr. Hamid began doing this there were many threats on his life. He along with his family had to flee the country to ensure there safety. Dr. Hamid even changed his name to what it is now in order to be safe. He now speaks all over the world including the Intelligence Summit in Washington, D.C. about his views on Islam and ways to combat fundamentalism. He has spoken to many television agencies which include: CNN, CBS, and FOX. Dr. Hamid's ultimate goal is to reform Islam, and refute the violent, fundamentalist ideas taught in much of the world today.

A very interesting thing Dr. Hamid talked about was that the reason fundamentalism grew so big and rapidly because of Saudi Arabia. Before Saudi Arabia became the rich country it is today, it was home to many fundamental Islamic groups that were suppressed because the country was not the power it is today. When Saudi Arabia became the power it is the suppressed people rose up and spread their fundamental ideas on Islam. The writing on the Saudi Arabian says, "I testify that there is no god but Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." This is called the "shahada creed". Under the creed is a sword. The meaning of the flag, according to Dr. Hamid, is that the religion of Islam is to be spread through all the world, and spread by force (the meaning of the sword).

One of the things I found most interesting was his views on the Iraq War. He said that there are three aspects we need to look at when considering the war. 1) The local insurgency is the first aspect. Dr. Hamid said that we initially made smart moves, including the capture and detainment of Sadam Hussain. After the good initial moves, he said that the U.S. clearly made some poor tactical decisions. The problem is now how to salvage those bad decisions and turn the war around in favor of the U.S. 2) The "Global Jihad" is the second aspect that needs to be looked at. This, Dr. Hamid said, was not affected much by the war. If anything, the war slightly decreased the "Global Jihad". It made the attacks on people more concentrated in Iraq. This was helpful to the rest of the world, because it made radical Islamics concentrate on one area, not the whole world. This was all on a small scale, however, and like I said before, the war only effected this a little 3) Reformation in Islam is that last aspect of the war. In Dr. Hamid's mind, the war has helped this cause greatly. He said that the Muslim people always like to feel victorious in whatever they do. When the U.S. came in, captured Sadam, and took control of Iraq it made many of the radical Islams feel defeated. This had an effect on their psyche and it opened the door for people to teach a peaceful form of Islam to those who would listen.

The final things he said about the war were, in my mind, ingenious ways in which the U.S. needs to pull out of Iraq when the time comes. The first thing he said was that the U.S. absolutely can not just pull out immediately. If the U.S. were to do this, the fundamentalists would say that they had won, and the attacks on the U.S. and around the world would get worse. As I said earlier, everything comes down to a sense of victory for the Muslim faith. We need to play "psychological warfare" on the people in Iraq. The first option for the U.S. is to pull out of Iraq slowly and strategically, but as we pull out we need to say things and do things that make the Iraqis feel like they have been defeated. Unlike what many people in America believe, if the Iraq people feel defeated they will become weaker and fall back instead of making more attacks. A testament to this would be after the attacks on September 11, there have been no attacks to U.S. civilians on our soil. The fundamentalists felt defeated when the U.S. first invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and therefore only began to fight in their own countries. The second option, and my favorite, is that the U.S. needs to set a date for leaving Iraq. Along with this date is a condition that says, for every attack on American soldiers the U.S. exit of Iraq will be delayed by a certain amount of time (ex. two or three months). If we do this, Dr. Hamid believes that that attacks on soldiers will reduce greatly. As much as the fundamentalists hate Americans and want to kill them, they feel even stronger about America leaving Iraq. This plan will make any terrorist think very hard about attacking anyone.

Well, there is much more that Dr. Hamid said, but this is all I am going to write. Please, if you have any questions or comments ask! I would love to hear what people think regarding this subject. As always, thanks for reading.

Polygamy...right, wrong, or culturally defined?

Polygamy is an issue that many Christians, and even non-Christians, would say is wrong. It is even illegal to have multiple wives in America. Why is this? Is it a law that was set in place because the forefathers thought it was Biblical, or was it a cultural norm? This is a question that was raised during my cultural anthropology class. I have done a lot of thinking and reading on this subject and I have finally come to a conclusion...polygamy is culturally significant. Let me say that again, polygamy is NOT wrong. Now, you cant quote me all the scripture you want but unless we are talking about a leader of a church, in which case they are to have only one spouse, there is nothing in the Bible that says polygamy is wrong. This view is supported by an entire missions organization in Africa. We recently had a missions conference at my church and a woman who ministers to Gambia agreed with my view. So now that you know my opinion, what is yours? Let me know what you think on the subject and your thoughts on my views. Please comment!

Rochester Homeless Experience

Hey all, so this pat week me and Matt went in to the city (Rochester) to hang out with the homeless people that live there. We took my video camera in hopes of getting some interviews. It was cold that day and rained the whole time we were there...a perfect day to brighten someone's day, right? So we walked around for a while until we saw someone who looked homeless. We were about to talk to them when I turned to Matt and said, "Wait...what are we going to say to them?" We kinda forgot about the whole initiating conversation thing...whoops. So we decided that we would but some coffee and offer it to anyone who looked like they could use a hot drink. Well, after we walked out of the diner where we got the coffee there was no one in sight...no one homeless at least. So we started to walk down the street to find people. We walked about a block until we passed two guys who were making a drug deal, one of them being homeless...we decided to keep walking. After walking about 10 blocks and me peeing in a parking lot, we found a group of guys waiting outside of a homeless shelter. Perfect! So me and Matt asked them is they wanted some coffee, they jumped at the offer. We started talking to two guys, men named Alan and Steve. I concentrated on Steve and we ended up talking for the whole time. Steve is retired from the military. He fought in the first Gulf War. Almost everything he talked about referred back to being in the ARMY. He seemed to be very enthusiastic in everything he talked about. He was a great story teller who had a talent for embellishing most everything he said. He talked about how he is actively involved in the ARMY and still trains and things like that. I think that was a little far from the truth, it was good to talk to him thought because he seemed as though not many of the other men would talk to him. Matt, on the other hand, was able to interview Alan and get some good stuff from him. Unfortunately my video camera broke and I cant view any of the videos on it anymore. So we'll have to wait awhile until we can retrieve that material. Besides that I think the day went really well and we seemed to have a positive impact on the men we talked to. They said right before we left that they were looking forward to us coming back soon, and hopefully we can.

A wretched sinner saved by grace,
Jordan

October Break

So everyone at Houghton makes such a big deal about going home...why is that??? For me going home is not something I look forward to or even enjoy really. I find that most of my time is spent lying around the house doing nothing, because all my friends back home either don't talk to me or have become drunks...that's Christian schooling for you. Maybe I am too close to home to appreciate being away from it. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I feel as though I'm the only one not hyperventilating the day before a break because I get to "go home". Freshman I understand, they have never been away from home for very long and for them going back home maybe seen as going back to normalcy. For others, maybe its getting back to some sort of civilization, I know some can't take being in Houghton for extended periods of time...I think someone should have thought about that before they signed away $28,000. Now neither of these two reasons fit me. One, I'm not a freshman; two, I find it much more boring here, even though there is "civilization", because I have no friends here. Applebees and the mall are not as much fun as you would think if you are there by yourself. So all this to say, I am bored out of my mind. Sure I could do homework or get ahead on stuff I know I have due later in the semester, but seriously it's vacation...enough said. I have found that no matter how many movies you watch...2 movies and 6 episodes of "The Office" in less than a day...it is still boring here. So, if you are reading this and can think of any good things for me to do...please, help a poor guy out and let me know.

D.C. Uganda Lobby Day Part II

So it was a short night and we were up again and heading into the city. This day we were headed for Capitol Hill. This was that day that I had drove over 8 hours for...the lobbying day. We were going to met with advisers of our senators and representatives. We were to meet at 8 am in the Dirksen Senate Building. Everyone was split into the state they came from, so they could talk to their own reps and senators. We were briefed on what were were to say and do at the meetings. There were for points that we wanted to get across to congress: 1) Active U.S. support for the peace talks in Juba 2) More humanitarian aid provided for the people of Northern Uganda 3) Calls to be made to the State Department to bring more attention to this situation 4) Increased and constant funding to the country of Uganda. We first met with Chuck Shumer's advisor. The woman was very nice and seemed to be very open to what we had to say. She had quite a bit of knowledge about the conflict and seemed to be excited about what we were doing. It was a great meeting and very encouraging. The second meeting with Hillary Clinton's advisor was about the same. The man was very informed and interested. The day was going great, I didn't think it could get much better; then, lunch came.

We walked to the cafeteria of the senate buildings and began to find a place to eat lunch. Just as we were about to sit down I looked across the cafeteria and saw Jason Russel. For those of you who don't know, Jason was one of the three filmmakers of Invisible Children! If you know me very well, you know I was freaking out at this point. Jason is about as close as it comes to a hero for me. So me and Matt walked over and introduced ourselves. After we talked for a second he asked us to sit down and eat lunch with him. It was a dream come true! We talked about what me and Matt were studying in college and about this book he was reading. It went really well, but unfortunately we didn't get to talk long because he had to leave. After all of that excitment, we finished our lunch and set off to talk to our reps.

We were split into different groups this time, so we could see as many reps as possible. My group was me, Jenna, a girl named Michelle, and another guy whose name I can't recall right now...whoops. We vistied the offices of Rep. Timothy Bishop. Both of the meeting went well, not quite as well as the first two though. The advisors didn't seem to much or anyhing at all about the confict in Uganda. That was ok though, we got a chance to tell someone new about what we cared so passionatly for. They seemed interested and they told us that they would do what they could. After those two meetings me, Matt, Kaylie, and Allison headed out of Wshingotn as fats as we could. We had a long drive ahead of us and we wanted to get started as soon as possible. After changing in the parking garage, we got in my car and drove back to Houghton, stopping a few times for food and to take Allison home.

As I look back on the trip I hope that we accomplished something in D.C. Even if only one person heard our voice, thats all we need. God can use the smallest seed to make the tree. I think we impacted more than just one person though. I think all those yellow shirts in one place made a difference. I'm glad I was apart of that difference. My question for you is what difference are you going to make?

D.C. Uganda Lobby Day Part I

So I don't know if anyone even reads this, but if you do thanks...and sorry I haven't written in so long. It has been a hectic few weeks. I guess I will start with D.C. About a week and a half ago me, Matt, Kaylie, and Allison went down to Washington D.C. for the Northern Uganda Lobby Day and Symposium. We left Sunday the 8th and came back to Houghton late Tuesday night the 10th. We stayed at Kaylie's house which is near Baltimore. It was about an hour and fifteen minutes into the city from here house. Both days we drove to the outskirts of the city and took the metro in from there.

The first day I experienced a little "culture shock" when we got to the metro station because we had no idea how to get tickets. Everything was through machines, and we were totally confused. I could tell that people were looking at us and knew that we were not from the area. I hate that feeling, the feeling of not belonging. What was worse was that we looked like tourists, I hate being a tourist. We got some help from a nice man however, and we were soon on our way. The first days events were held at the George Washington University campus.
The events was all lectures and speeches basically from people who are either from Uganda, or well educated on the subject. First we had a morning session with a panel of 5 different people. These people included a former sex slave to the LRA and the Chief of the Acholi tribe (the tribe most affected by the war). I thought is was "ok", not the best thing I have ever gone to. For the most part I felt like people there said the same things over and over. For me, and I bet most people, the things said were things we knew already. The later sessions in the day were better because they dealt more with what will happen after the war in terms of rebuilding and humanitarian aid. I did learn a bit from that and I enjoyed them. It was just too bad that we had to drive so much the day before and we got little sleep, so it was a little difficult to stay awake.

After all that we decided to skip one of the talks and explore D.C. a little, even though we had all been there before. We went to the mall and walked around for a little and then came back to the GW campus and went to a Chinese restaurant close to there. The day ended with the film "Uganda Rising". It was a film about the history of the war and its effect on the people of Northern Uganda. It was quite moving and much more graphic than I thought it would be. The film makers seemed to hold nothing back, which I thought was good and I respected a lot. After the movie was over we quickly headed back to Kaylie's house because we were all dead at that point, and we needed to be up at 5 the next morning.

PETA...are you serious???

Hey guys, I haven't written a my final thoughts yet on the homeless project, which I hope to either later tonight or tomorrow, but I need to talk about something I find absolutely ridiculous. What do I find ridiculous you ask? PETA! The maniacs that run and support this organization are freakin' lunatics. It's not that I don't know or care about cruelty to animals, because I do and I think that it is very wrong. What goes on in many places is terrible and should be stopped, but PETA is CRAZY!! I have watched many numerous videos and read many articles on this subject so I know what I'm talking about. Now for those of you who don't know, I am not a vegetarian. I have no problem with eating meat. I do think that animals should be killed humanly, but I see no problem in killing them. If you think I'm wrong then please enlighten me...I love a good debate. This blog however is not supposed to be on how people kill animals, it's on PETA. Those who have no heard much about PETA might be wondering why I hate the organization so much. It's because of the things they support. For starters, they support the bombing of buildings that are used for animal testing...BOMBING. For the people that may think there is nothing wrong with you, let me ask you this: Is it of for me to bomb houses of people who own coffee from non-free trade plantations or own diamonds from Sierra Leone? After all, those diamonds and coffee were made available only through the exploitation of impoverished people in Africa and Latin America. I see no difference there. Let me just say that I don't think bombing people's houses would be right, I'm just making a point. Bombing animal testing facilities is wrong, plain and simple. Another thing the love-filled people over at PETA support, o I'm sorry I mean started, is a campaign called "Holocaust on Your Plate". That's right Holocaust...like the one suffered by the Jews in WWII!!! Are you kidding me?? They equate the killing of animals in slaughter houses to the killing of the Jewish people. It is absolutely disgusting that people would compare the mass killing of millions of innocent lives to that of freakin' animals!! I'm sorry, I don't care what you say...animals are not the same as humans. Humans are better. Let me repeat myself...HUMANS ARE BETTER! I'm sorry if I hurt the feeling of animals...o wait no I don't! Some of you may think at this point that I hate animals, I'm sorry if you do because that is not true. I love animals, especially dogs and eagles...I don't know why but I love eagles. I agree that it's horrible what some people do to animals, but that doesn't change how I feel. Here are a few reasons why humans are superior to animals: 1) God says so...read Genesis 1. Now I know it says nothing of eating humans, but we are talking about superiority not food. 2) Humans have been eating animals for thousands of years. 3) I guarantee you animals are not having debates about this right now...therefore we are better. Well, I have to finish my spanish homework so I'm going to end it here. If you don't believe me or want to read more about the PETA morons go to the PETA kills animals website. Thanks for listening folks...sorry this was more a rant than thought on God, life, etc.

A wretched sinner saved by grace,
Jordan

Homeless: Day 3

Ok well I didn't write much yesterday so I'm going to write for yesterday and a little of today. Yesterday was the best day I have had all year long. No I haven't gone crazy, and yes I am still living homeless. There is just something about living on the bare necessities and being completely content. For the first time this year I had no worries about who other people saw me as. I was just me. It was so freeing to sit on the sets of the chapel barefoot in my smelly t-shirt and jeans and not have a care in the world. I just sat there and talked with my new friends about life, politics, philosophy, and everything else under the sun. It didn't matter what I looked like or how I smelled because no one else cared. For once we took each other for who we are not who we look like. I think that is one of the reasons why so many people don't like what we are doing, it makes them feel uncomfortable. It is not normal for someone to not shower and just sit outside all day long like a hippie and not do anything. It not normal to be careless how we look to other people. I want to know, why is this not normal? Why can't we accept others for their true self and not for their looks, clothes, and friends? I truly believe that if we did this we would all be happier. No one would annoy others because they were trying to impress someone, or make them like who they aren't. We would all be ourselves for once in out lives and the world would get along...it's too bad the idea of the world getting along is more of a joke than a dream anymore.

Just as my day was amazing, so was my night. I went to sleep earlier than I ever have at Houghton, and slept through most of the night. As time goes on you really do get used to sleeping on cardboard boxes. I can't even imagine what it will feel like to sleep on a mattress again. Anyway, as usual there were some drano bombs set off last night. The best part of my night, seeing cape girl run after the sound of drano bombs at midnight...haha. But as usual I woke up happy and refreshed. I was also able to stay fully awake in both of my classes, which were both very enjoyable. Well, I haven't done much today so I'm going to end it here. Maybe I will write more tonight...

A wretched sinner saved by grace,
Jordan

Homeless: Day 2

Hey all, hope everyone is doing well. I'm ok, a little hungry, a little sore, and a lot tired but this is quite the experience. It's a weird feeling knowing that there are many people who I have never met that are supporting me and at the same time the same number of people who think its pointless and stupid. It's hard to tell where people truly stand because many of those who are against us have never talked to us or know all the facts about what we are doing. For those of you who still dont know our intentions please read my blog from yesterday and get informed. Now don't get me wrong, if you disagree with me and have all the facts straight, then great. I have no problem with that because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you have taken the time to talk to us and find out what we are about then thank you. Now if you havent taken the time to talk to us and you say we are doing nothing then you are flat out wrong. You are thinking about it, talking about it and reading about it. That right there is proof that we accomplished our goal. Our goal was to raise awareness throught the campus about homelessness. Who can honestly sit there and say we didn't do that?

While it is frustrating at points, it has also been quite encouraging as well. Numerous times I have walked past people outside or sat near people in class that are talking about it. Most of those times the people have said encouraging things or are supportive in our actions. So thank you to those who support us AND to those who don't support us. Keep talking and debating.

A wretched sinner saved by grace,
Jordan

Homeless: Day 1

"The homeless now have a face." This is something Jenna told me today. It really hit me when she said it because that is why we are doing this. We are not doing it because we think we can truly know what it is like to be homeless. (that would be foolish and ignorant) We are not doing it because we want attention or to try to start conflict. The reason we are doing this is to put a face to the people on the street.

Let me ask you a question, How many times have to stopped and helped a homeless person in any way? For those of you who HAVE actually helped a homeless person, how many homeless people have you encountered? Is the number of people you have helped and the number of people you have come across close? If not ask yourself why. Let me digress here for a second, I am guilty of this as well. I have helped one homeless person in my life, but I have come across many more. I want you to know this because I used to think like a lot of people. I used to think that the homeless people got themselves in their position and they don't deserve my help. This argument makes sense in a world absent of God. Fortunately for us we have God, so that argument falls short. I agree that for many homeless people, it is their own fault. However, this does not give us a reason to not help them. Look at it like this: We are all sinners, we choose to sin every day. God in spite of our sin still chose to come to this earth to save us. We got ourselves into the mess we were, or still are, in. We didnt deserve any help, but God helped us anyways. We are called to be Christ-like, would God help the homeless? We know through the Bible that he not only would help the homeless, but he DID help them. Not only did God help us, but those that told us about Christ helped us as well. Whether it was your parents, pastor, missionary, friend, etc. someone told us about God. Those people helped us when we didn't deserve help. Was it foolish for them to help you? I would say no, they cared for you and wanted to save you from yourself. Why would you not want to do the same?

Thanks for sticking with me through all that...back to the story. Last night was quite interesting. Everything was going well, minus the whole pouring rain thing, until about 1 in the morning. We were woken up by the sound of "drano bombs". We don't know why people were setting them off, but they scared the crap out of us. Josh woke me up telling me that there was someone shooting a shotgun, because that's what it sounded like. Haha, so we freaked out a little and all ran into the chapel. Inti ended up calling the cops just to be safe, even though it turned out to be nothing. So that created a little excitement for everyone! The rest of the night went well. Some people, me for example, slept fairly well while others got little sleep at all. It was a new experience sleeping on rocks with just a blanket and some padding I cut from a couch that was out by Shen. It was good though. I woke up happier than I ever have at 7:15 in the morning...for those of you who don't know me I am NOT a morning person by any means. After waking up and eating a small fruit bar someone gave me, I went to class as usual and tired to stay awake. Today has not been too much out of the norm for me. I did some homework outside on a bench, came to the campus center to do some work, and talked with my friends. I'm not going to lie, at this point I am pretty hungry. I will survive though, and I already have and will continue to learn things through this experience. Please, if you agree, disagree, are curious, or have no idea about what we are doing come talk to us. We would love to chat with you about are motives behind doing this. Just remember to keep an open mind, and we don't always have to agree but we should ALWAYS strive to understand each other. Thanks for listening.

A wretched sinner saved by grace,
Jordan

Homeless

So...today is the start of our homeless experience. We started at around 6 p.m. after our "last dinner". While I'm only 2 hours into it, it has been interesting and thought provoking. It was weird to sit on the steps of the chapel to do my homework, because I had nowhere else to go. It started to get cold and all I wanted to do was run inside and get warm. (and yes I know I am inside doing this..shut up) It was weird to think about the fact that I cant go to my fridge and get something to drink or eat. I have nothing but my books, a Bible, and a blanket. Its hard to concentrate on anything because there are so many thoughts flooding my head. I don't fully know what I am thinking or feeling right now, so I will wait till tomorrow when I have experienced a little more. Keep us in your prayers, there are around 20-25 people doing this. More importantly, keep the real poor, downtrodden, and social outcasts in your prayer. They need it the most and those are the people God was drawn to. That isn't a coincidence. More to come tomorrow...

A wretched sinner saved by grace,
Jordan

Project Surrender Goals

So I'm new to this whole blogging thing so if my thought are jumbled just bare with me. For those who don't know Matt Whittemore, John Herr, JD Zaner, and I have started a little project called "Project Surrender". ( Thus the name of my blog) The whole point of Project Surrender is for all of us to totally surrender our lives to God's control of our life. Along with surrendering to God, we are giving up things of this world that distract us from God. These things we are surrendering are different for each of us, but they all have the same meaning: "What can I give back to God to lose myself so that others might gain?" For me I have been convicted of a few different things...

I have felt called to start giving more money to the poor, especially the poor in Africa. I have joined a Mocha Club The Mocha Club is an organization where you form "teams" that concentrate on a specific impoverished group of people and raise money for those people. My team is called "Children of Promise"; and we are raising money for HIV/AIDS orphans in Africa. Along with the Mocha Club, I'm going to start sponsoring a child in Africa, hopefully from Uganda. Doing these two things are just small ways in which I can share my love for Christ to those who may have never seen His amazing love.

Another thing I am sacrificing is my time. I believe is one of the biggest things anyone can give, and yet one of the things people hate giving the most. We as humans are so consumed in ourselves that we don't want to give even a few minutes of our day to anyone else. That is why I have decided to give up my laziness and and time spent doing frivolous things. It hasn't been easy, because I am so used to doing whatever I feel like whenever I feel like it. That is why I need to sacrifice it though, because this life is not mine, it is God's.

One of my passions in life is supporting and getting involved in humanitarian organizations. I have tried to increase my involvement in these groups since starting Project Surrender. First, I'm traveling to Washington D.C. to attend the Northern Uganda Lobby Day on October 9th and 10th. It's a two day event that included speakers from all over the world and an opportunity to meet with my representative to discuss the war in Northern Uganda. It will be the experience of a lifetime and I encourage everyone who has a burden on their heart for the horrible tragedies in Africa to go. Along with Lobby Day, I'm going to participate in the nationwide Gulu Walk. This event is a one day walk to raise money and support for the war in Northern Uganda. If this sounds like something you might be interested in go to the Gulu Walk website for more info. Lastly, I have joined an organization called Evangelicals for Social Action. In my own words, the point of the organization is to "put and end to apathy in Houghton College and America" The first event we as a group are doing is living as homeless people for 4 nights. We are going to sleep outside on Houghton's campus, only eat food that is given to us by others, and have nothing but a few blankets and the clothes on our back for most of next week. I am excited and nervous about this at the same time. I know how rich of a learning experience it will be, but also what a challenge it will be. I'll be writing everyday of the homeless project, so I'll let you know how it turns out.

One thing I want to stress is how this blog is not meant to show you my accomplishments or brag about what I have done (frankly, what I have done means nothing), but to encourage you to look into your own life and see what you can sacrifice. Also, maybe some of you will get some ideas from this as to what you can do for yourself. I want this to be encouraging to all who read it. Before I end I want to ask you one question, "What can you sacrifice to God?" Please think about this, and more importantly, act upon it.

A wretched sinner saved by grace,

Jordan