So this is Christmas?

With Christmas upon us I just wanted to take a minute to remember with everyone what Christmas is really all about. I mean, we all know that Christ was not born on December 25 nor even any time in the winter. We even know that December the 25 was traditionally a pagan celebration. And ignoring little tirades about the commercialism of the holiday season, the question at hand is what is Christmas. The answer is easy, for Christians Christmas is the time of year we choose to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

But I hope that you don't stop there, because while we celebrate the season and remember God's gift, let us not forget what that gift really was. A friend and I were talking the other day about the following line from Talladega Nights:

Ricky Bobby: Dear tiny infant Jesus...
Carley Bobby: Hey, um... you know sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don't always have to call him baby. It's a bit odd and off puttin' to pray to a baby.
Ricky Bobby: Well look, I like the Christmas Jesus best....

That's the mentality of most people this time of year. We hang ornaments of these cutesy little angels and love hearing the story of a little baby. After all, the only offensive thing a baby does is make a mess in its diaper and the most divisive thing a baby does cause grandparents to fight over who gets to play with it. But let's get real here. The angels in the bible made grown men fall down in fear. Generally speaking the first words out of any angelic being in the bible were "Don't be afraid". Angels are not cute, they are awe inspiring and straight up frightening and the reality of this holiday is that a baby was not the gift we should be remembering.

God's gift to mankind was never a baby, yes Christ came as a baby, but that was not the gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us what the gift is. It's salvation!

So in this time in which we remember the coming of our Lord, please don't stop your remembrance there. This is the season in which we are to celebrate God's gift. It's vital that we don't let people stop at baby Jesus, but that they come to know the truth about God's gift that we are celebrating this Christmas day.

So this is Christmas?

21 the last great birthday?

Now, when I say this, I do not mean as to imply that your birthdays become suddenly lackluster after 21, I mean that as you're growing up, 21 is the last mile marker for a child. In fact, I can remember that while growing up I didn't even consider an age existed past 21. Who cared if it did? What amazing thing happens to us after 21? So on my b-day this year, let us consider those awesome birthdays of the past and why 21 is the last great one!

5 - I don't know why, but children just love this birthday. It's almost the division between being just a little higher than a baby and being a full blown kid. School also starts at 5 and we, expecting it to be some sort of exclusive club that we had been denied up to that time, can't wait to start.

6-9 - Yes, each year brings a greater joy than the last in our child eyes. We're always looking forward to the next one, we're not 6, we're6 and 1/2 we're 6 and 1/4. We're always waiting for that birthday to come around so we can brag about being older than the last year.

10 - Ah 10, it's an enchanting number of mystery and intrigue. All of our 9th year we hear people talking about "the double digits". It causes us to yearn for it to come all the quicker as if we will gain some new life ability. 10 also bring about freedom for many boys. We can go a little farther in the neighborhood, and have to deal with a little less rules than we did before.

11 - This was a year I looked forward to all my 10th year because I was finally going to be a teenager! Yes, I couldn't wait to turn eleventeen. I was a little crushed when I learned that 13 was the beginning of the teenage years. It was on my birthday we were in Arkansas at my grandparent's house, I was opening a present facing the gas heater in the living room. Crushed.

13 - The real start of our teenage years!

15 - Every child waits for this birthday the minute they learn they will be able to learn out to drive. Having been driving now for 8ish years, I have to wonder why on earth I was looking forward to such a headache.

16 - This one goes without say. For boys, 16 is a mini 18. We can drive on our own and suddenly the world has become a much smaller place and ours for the taking! We look to this birthday as a right of passage to freedom!

18 - Not only do we become an adult (and graduate from school, hallelujah!) but we finally attain the age we where we can vote for the president. It rocked so much the first time. I voted for G. W. Bush Jr. I did it again 4 years later at 22. Don't like the war? Stop hogging all the freedom jerk.

20 - No longer a teenager! Even though nothing significant happens, it's a solidifying year as an adult. Not only are you over 18, but now you've lost the teen at the end of your age. AWESOME

21 - The last great birthday. It is the last one we build up with anticipation. At 21, there is nothing we cannot do anymore. From the time we're 15 we all know and hold 21 in a special part of our minds, waiting for the day when we too will be able to drink... even if we never use the right, we can't wait for the time when at least nothing is stopping us from doing so.

But what about after 21? As a child, did we ever look to anything after that? Nope, sure as an adult I could make another list, like

22 - graduate (for some (like me) this happens in a latter year than others)
25 - rent a car
29 - last year before 30
30 - the end of youth
40 - you were dumb at 30, 40 is the end of youth (somewhere around here is the added benefit year of finally paying off the college loans for the education you never used.)
50 - you were dumb at 40, 50 is the end of youth
55 - Four letters - A.A.R.P.

See adult list. But at 23, I don't really want to worry about that list quite yet, the kid list had a lot more fun birthdays and a lot less dreading it birthdays. Who morn's for 21, the last great birthday in the mind of a child?

21 the last great birthday?

Words of Wisdom from My Ol' Man

So, for those who don't know, my dad has recently been diagnosed with cancer. And I have to admit that our family's reaction to the news is slightly humorous. Rather than being broken up about it, we're all... well unchanged isn't quiet the right word, and hopeful is equally incorrect. We are all possessing the peace that passes comprehension that only Christ can give.

Now let's be honest, most of us in life are not facing challenges that are most likely going to kill you (it is, of course, our hope and prayer that God heals my father, but cancer is a disease that usually ends in death). And while this isn't to trivialize anyone else's situation, it is to say that my dad's situation is a little more threatening. While your situation may be passing your exam tomorrow, going through a rough time in your relationships, or being abandoned by your closest friends or loved one, none of those things are life threatening.

I say all this, because I came across a very interesting blog post made by my father. To summarize it, dad soul's was feeling tormented from worry over the possibility of having cancer (this post was a reflection back to a car trip we took just before he got the official news he had cancer but after he had been warned he probably did). In it, his mind kept coming back to the Psalm that said "Why are you in despair, O my soul?". So often that phrase flashed through his mind that he finally opened his bible and hunted down the verses to see if he couldn't find out WHY the psalmist was so upset, to find the cause for his despair. But upon finding the verse, he could not find anything that said why the psalmist was upset. But that was the whole point of the Psalm!

Here's the Psalm,

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance, and my God.

This same EXACT phrase is found in Psalm 42:5, 42:11, and 43:5 that's three times repeated. Now, you may not know this, but when something is repeated in the Bible three times it is to really drive home a point. Examples of this can be found in places such as Isaiah 6:3 where it says, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" or in the gospels where Christ ask Peter three times if he loves Him. The point of three time repetition is to drive home the point that something is more than true, it is assured beyond any shadow of a doubt. In Isaiah, the entity speaking is a seraphim. It cries out the truth that God is holy. No, not just holy, but that He is firmly, undeniably, and unchangeably HOLY. In the gospels Christ isn't just rubbing it in Peters face that he denied Christ three times, Christ is stressing the fact that if Peter does in fact love Him then he will devote his life to the care of the Church.

The point being, that God doesn't allow this phrase to be repeated word for word three times for no reason. Look closely and notice a couple things.

1) No reason is ever mentioned for what is causing the psalmist problem. It's not important. Try and wrap your mind around that. We live in a world full of broken homes, broken hearts, and shattered lives. It doesn't matter if your wife cheated on you, if your daddy left you, or if your brother is trying to kill you (something which sadly happens all too often in Arab countries when someone leaves the Muslim faith). It doesn't matter if your home is getting taken away from you by the bank, if your closest friend just died, or if you failed the big midterm.

2) Here's what the Bible tells us is important: "Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God." Regardless of what happens, we are called to hope in God. See, the problem is that we're trying to hope in people. Sinful, imperfect, godless men will always disappoint you at some point in your life and you know what? So will God-fearing, righteous, kind men. We are all imperfect and though we trust in Christ, we have by no means become perfect and free of sin, just from the penalty of sin. When you begin to base your entire state of being on the actions of one person or one event you are looking right into the face of God and crying out "HOW DARE YOU?! What right did you have to allow this to happen? How could you let such horrible things happen to me?" You are looking at God and telling Him that you know what is better for your life than He does.

Can you grasp what it is I'm trying to say here? When bad things come our way and we go into despair, when we become suicidal, when we seek "self-medications", what we've done is cease to trust God . We've placed ourself in a place higher than God (that's making our will into an idol above God) and telling God He has no idea what He is doing!

What an amazing Psalm my dad shared. You and you alone are responsible for your life. No one, no one, NO ONE ruins your life for you. No one, forces you to adopt an attitude in direct rebellion to the teachings of the Bible. You are in charge of your emotions, in charge of your reaction to life. The question becomes, how will you react? Will you blame everyone else for your sin? Or will you, like the psalmist, cry out to God "I will hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance, and my God."

If you're going through hard times where you feel suicidal or depressed or just stressed out of your mind. I encourage you to pray through Psalm 42 and talk with me. I've been there and God can help.

Words of Wisdom from My Ol' Man

6 years of searching....

6 years ago in the year 2001, on August the 31st Toonami, a TV block on Cartoon Network had a special Midnight showing in which they showed music videos from the band Gorillaz, Daft Punk, and.... others.

Wait, you say? What was that last little bit? That quickly muttered, under your breath, guttural cough that almost resembled a word? Oh, I said others. You'll never hear what the "others" consisted of from that special Midnight run of Toonami, just the words "and others." For six years this phrase has haunted me as I've searched for what was, at the time, the coolest stop animation video I had ever seen. I saw it only in passing as I quietly and secretly viewed some of my favorite, and my mother's least favorite, TV shows ever; shows that aired during Toonami's Midnight Run.

It's not a music video, just a video with some hauntingly good music playing along with it. It's a pretty cool story of a... guy... thing seeking happiness and bliss in a world of gray. The other night, fed up with the memory of this video I sat down and began my hunt. At first, I had no leads other than it was on Toonami, but I endured and little by little I honed in on my prey. It
aired on a special edition of the Midnight Run, that aired on August 31, 2001 (with a repeat showing in October due to its great success). Finally, after 3 hours of grueling searching, with continual dead-ends, I found a forum post about a guy seeking the same video! Scrolling through the topic thread I found not the video but a clue of pure gold; the video's name and maker. From there it was a quick search on YouTube that led me this video. Please enjoy MORE, by Mark Osborne

The video was taken off YouTube by the creator. If you want to watch it just google MORE, by Mark Osborne and you should be able to find it easily.

6 years of searching....

My Reaction to the News

So, I figure since this blog site is linked on my dad's website, it would be beneficial to outline a bit of how I'm taking all this. First, however, is how the rest of my family is doing with this.
Mom is doing well. I think this is the most stressful to her as its something new for her to have to handle. Not just something new, but something that she has no grounds for understanding how to handle it. The past weeks of going with dad to various doctor appointments has been good for her as she's been able to get a hand up on what Myeloma is.
Daniel seems to most affected by it. I imagine this has a lot to do with both the fact that Daniel is farthest away from dad right now, as well as the fact that he was the first born. The first born has a bit of a special relationship with the parents as they are able to experience the parents alone. All the rest of us experience the parents as being an additional part to the family. In fact, I would say that often the younger children experience the parents almost as on offset to the friendship they experience with the other children. Needless to say, Daniel probably enjoys... a deeper relationship (if that's the correct way to say it) with my father than the rest of us do.
I haven't really herd from Andrew to know how he's doing, but I think he's handling it well.
Emily has been stressing about this a little, but remains good.

Me? I'm good. To be perfectly honest, I'm not overly affected by it one way or the other. I know that may seem callous, but the fact of the matter is that the number of my dad's days has not been decreased one bit simply because he now has cancer. A lot of people may view this news almost as if where before there was some unknown limit to my father's day that was so far off it wasn't worth considering. After all, my dad's only 55 he has another 35 years easy by modern thought. But know we consider the fact he has cancer, that limit that wasn't worth thinking about is now a much smaller number. It's become a "how many of my children will get to meet their grandfather?" or a "how much longer do I really have with dad?", "what will become of mom without dad?" All completely legitimate questions, yet all questions that make me laugh. The whole notion of letting a sickness distress you makes me laugh.
My father is just as much in the hands of God today as he was yesterday. Just because he has cancer doesn't mean God has turned His back on my dad has it? So I'm good. My dad is in the best hands possible and he'll be around the exact number of days as he always was supposed to.

My Reaction to the News

Daniel Bennett; father, minister, brother, political figure. He'll stand up for the rights of the little man and insure equality and equity and other words that start with e and and in y. yes "y" that little do it all letter that could otherwise be known as a spineless flip-flop unable to decide if it's a consonant or a vowel. Don't vote for a yellow-belly, chicken like "y". Vote Daniel Bennett. He stands up for you.

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Viruses, Trojans, and Worms oh, my!

I had a fun little run in with virus this past two weekends. In a typical fashion of "bad-timing" my main computer was hit was roughly 400 occurrences of the same virus. It was truly frustrating as I spent the better part of Friday afternoon, practically all of Saturday removing the virus from my computer.
It was the essence of frustration as I would seem to no sooner have removed the virus than it would pop right back up on my computer. Literally fuming as a much needed day of homework (homework that required the very computer in question) I stormed around from computer to computer in my house making sure that the virus wasn't coming to me through the network.
Mom's faced a problem as the Anti-virus software had long expired, but I was able to at least scan it in part and set her's and dad's computer (which though being old was kept well up to date) to the time-consuming task. And then, in a stroke of unmitigated fortune, I found the source: Emily's laptop.
Oh, yes! It was dear, sweet, little sister Emily's laptop that was sending it's deadly pathogen through my beloved network. It had fortunately only found a home on my main computer (which is by far the most resilient to such things) and had for a very short time found it's way to my laptop (though I crushed it swiftly and without mercy). The cause, you ask? No virus protection. ooops. After quickly rectifying that slight oversight, and 1346 occurrences of this virus later, Emily's laptop was freed from its horrid grasp and my computer soon was free too.
Sadly, the problem continues as it turns out Emily received it from some random dude on campus. I suspect through iTunes. We sent him a message telling him to get an Anti-virus program (such as my personal favorite, Norton Anti-virus) but have yet to hear back.
Though her laptop is more or less back up to snuff, I fear my main computer was a little worse from the wear and took me much of this past Friday to get it back to a point of stability again (i.e. to a point where it didn't randomly crash). Though I have found I am missing a few programs after this nasty little virus.
sad times. sad times

Viruses, Trojans, and Worms oh, my!