Someone had a post featured on Revelife recently that stated that he never sees any Christian material on xanga. Like many people who stay faithful to the Revelife community, I know exactly what he is talking about, but I need to disagree, again, like many of the people who stay faithful to Revelife.

Many people, as of late, have been complaining about the lack of uplifting posts featured on the front page. I think this isn’t really the case. I often see uplifting posts on the front page. I know I have made some uplifting posts that have been featured and I know of many other uplifting posts as well. I think it is in our defensive nature to only pay close attention to the ones that seem to rebuke certain things in the church today. I am also guilty of writing such posts, however this person went as far to say that anything featured on Revelife can’t be considered Christian.

I don’t know how he came up with this. Sure, there are things featured on Revelife that I don’t agree with and there are things that I have had featured on Revelife that others don’t agree with, but to say that this stuff isn’t Christian material is an insult.

I find many posts that question our actions as Christians to be uplifting and thought-provoking… and of course a person can’t look at these posts as divine revelation, however, it is up to the reader to do his or her research on the topic at hand and let the Holy Spirit be his or her guide on what has been written. Perhaps if we all stop looking at these posts as unChristian writing that tears us down  and start looking at them as if they are insights from the body to the body for the health of the body, we can be uplifted and see the praise the blogs featured on Revelife actually brings.

We need to remember 2 Timothy 3:16-17. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Likewise, if someone comes across something in scripture that seems to contradict something I am doing in my life, then, praise God, someone was there to point it out to me so I can be a better man of God!

Shalom.

There are very few things that are more annoying than being told that you need to be more open-minded. It really wouldn’t be that big of a deal, if people would realize that their way of looking at things, isn’t always the way everyone else looks at things, whether they are right or wrong. Having an open-mind requires a person to look at all possible sides and form an opinion that way. It is like this:

I may say A is better than B.
A friend of mine, disagrees and says that B is much better than A and I am intolerant and closed-minded because I believe A is better than B. The thing is, my friend doesn’t understand exactly why I think B is not as great as A. He refuses to open his mind to my way of thinking, but he does not realize his error in calling me closed minded.

Then, I have another friend who see’s a mix of my A and his B and forms his own opinion, combining the two, C. So now this friend thinks that we both are closed minded because we refuse to see things from C’s point of view, which has to be the most open-minded point of view since it combines the views of A and B.

The problem is, C doesn’t quite understand A or B. There are reasons why A can’t see things the same way as B or C, and there are reasons why B can’t see things the same way as A or C. But still, C accuses B and A of being closed-minded. A accuses B and C of being closed-minded. B accuses A and C of being closed-minded. It is a circle that never stops.

Don’t get me wrong… some points of view are ridiculous, but many are understandable and need to be viewed, not with an open mind, but with an open heart. That doesn’t mean that we need to like everyone’s points of view, but it means we can accept it, tolerate it, and understand it.

I am telling you now, you can’t really have an open mind until your heart is open. Loving your neighbors opens your heart. Loving your enemies opens your heart. Walking a mile in other’s shoes opens your heart. Only then, will you be able to really have an open mind. You don’t have to agree. You just need to understand. So, before you worry about being open-minded, open your heart and be accepting first.

Shalom and Happy Easter!

I’ve said it many times before, I am saying it again because this day is supposed to be a day of celebration. Today, we celebrate the day that Jesus conquered death by rising from the grave. He now sits at the right hand of God the Father, while the holy spirit dwells within our heart. Praise Yahweh!

Anyway, back to my point… and with my point, I bring to you a question:

When did church become a self-help seminar?

The sermon that was given at my church had a message which stated, when you think it’s over, don’t give up because it’s not. It was a message that said, when things get rough, don’t throw in the towel because things can turn out better than you can foresee.

While I think this is a great message and everything, I still have a problem with it:

There is no meat.

(Yum, meat!)

Everything the pastor said was backed up with scripture and everything, so I know God is behind the message, but seriously? Today should be a celebration. Yet, we didn’t really celebrate. We just kind of sat there… and listened to a pretty boring sermon. This is a disgrace to the church, the people of Elohim.

I have a huge problem with the “seeker friendly” movement… It leaves the Christians out… It leaves us listening to self-help seminars, hearing the same things over and over again, getting us nowhere in our faith.

Did we forget what the letter to the Hebrews is all about? This is a danger to the church, and it NEEDS to be fixed immediately in order for us to grow.

Let us not forget that our number one obligation to God is to worship him first. Then, we can worry about being seeker friendly.

Make this day, a day of celebration!

We are mind, body, and spirit. This is what makes a man. Man is not defined by his strength, nor his intellect, but what truly makes a man good, is his heart- his spirit. But spirit alone, doesn’t make the man. He was given a body and given a brain… but the spirit is the easiest part of man to ignore. It is easy to say it doesn’t exist… but it does… and it is just as important to one’s self as his own body and mind.

I feel like I’ve flushed $40,000.00 down the toilet. I was in school for ministry for three years, and eventually had to drop out because I couldn’t afford it anymore. At the time, this killed me. Going to Taylor University helped me grow so much, and I finally got serious about my faith in God… then, God ripped it all out from underneath me. I had nothing left… just a minimum wage job to go back home to.

I’ve grown since then… God told me he wouldn’t leave me with nothing. He told me that he would give me wisdom, and he was going to allow me to see things in a new light because he had given me Christ’s eyes. I can learn quickly and look at life in a way that I never could have imagined I would. Five years ago, heck, even one year ago, if someone would have told me how much I would grow in the short span of just one year, I wouldn’t have believed them… but it happened. And I’m so happy about that.

It came to my attention earlier today about what I was going to school for.

Ministry.

Why Ministry?

Why pay over $20,000.00 dollars a year for something that we are all (Christians) supposed to be knowing anyway?

Does this make any sense?

Is the only way to learn about ministry through a school that many can’t afford? Or is the best way to learn, through experience?

I tend to think experience is the best way to learn…

…based off where I am in life.

Jesus was not educated (John 7:15). Jesus still gave excellent messages, naturally, as he is the son of God. He had many followers… the best known were his 12 disciples. These men, also, were uneducated. But they learned through experience. They listened to what God had to say, first hand, and did not copy notes which were copied from notes, which also were copied from more notes.

Knowledge does not prepare a person for ministry. We are forgetting an important part of Man. The spirit. God, essentially, is spirit, so God communicates to us in spirit. We can be hearing, when we have an open mind, which is great, but without an open heart, we aren’t listening. And it is the heart that listens, and the heart that puts actions into effect. Without the spirit, the brain is useless. It’s good for logic… but what good is logic when we are working with something outside of logic, and anything comprehendible.

The church has been rebuilt since its roots. But it hasn’t been rebuilt from the spirit. It’s been rebuilt upon western thought. It hasn’t been rebuilt from God, but instead, it has been rebuilt upon the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Knowledge is good- but it is nothing without spirit… and spirt can stand alone because it is eternal. It doesn’t need the mind and it doesn’t need the body. It thrives when it is alone.

As an author I am reading put it, and this is a paraphrase: We are being served fruit from the wrong tree. We are being given fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and not eating from the tree of life.

$27,000.00 a year for an education to be Christlike… I can’t think of a bigger sin- not in the state the world is in right now, anyway…

Shalom.

Those of you that follow my blogs know that I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. In fact, you know that I consider myself to be an Anarchist. Both parties are ridiculous in all aspects that I can think of, and any third party have hopes and dreams that are just that: hopes and dreams. They will never go anywhere in our two party system, and even if they would, it would be a matter of time before they just come crashing down anyway.

Political views aside, I was sitting at my Dad’s tonight and Sean Hannity’s program came on Fox News…

lol… Fox News… It’s sort of become an oxymoron, has it not… Not that I favor CNN or MSNBC or anything… I don’t… all of these are crazy and distort truth.

Anyway, while I was watching this with my dad, I saw something about President Obama bowing before the King of Saudi Arabia.

Ok… Why are they making this a big deal?

I don’t know, but apparently, it is a big deal. Such a big deal that the White House quickly denied that it was even a bow. They said that the president just wanted to go down to the height of the King.

Judge for yourselves…

It looks like a full bow to me…

Anyway, I still say, “What’s the big deal?”

Isn’t this respectful?

According to my Dad, it’s not… He says that it is a sign of weakness. “Our president should not bow before any other president, or King for that matter… and no King or President should bow before our president. They are equals.”

I don’t know what you think… but I feel like I am an equal to President Obama. I feel like I am an equal to King Abdullah. I feel like I am an equal to the Queen of England and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. I am an equal to Gandhi, although I respect him much more than any of the people I’ve mentioned before him.

I don’t care. A bow to a leader (even though I see them all as equals) is respectful… even if you are a leader yourself.

The way I see it, it isn’t a sign of weakness, but a sign of meekness and humility. Both are virtuous traits.

What has happened to us? Who do we think we are, saying that this sign of respect is weak? This isn’t right. The world has gone sick.

So, now I want to know, what do you think about this bow (or nonbow)? Is this respectful? Is it weak? Is it Humble? Tell me!

Shalom.

Travis (crevis05), Jairus (Biggie_Jay), and I (Jimmy, jmallory) are starting a Christian Community. I believe that I am seriously called by God to do this. We’ve even found a building. The problem is, we don’t have the funds to get this building. Now, since I know that this is something God wants me to do, (maybe it’s now, maybe it’s later, but He wants me to do this), I will keep into consideration that God will work his will, not mine. But if this is the building he wants us to have, the three of us will be doing a fund raiser to collect money to start this community going. We will even start a xanga page for this community.

The whole purpose of this is to live out a Christian lifestyle, in the community of believers and living out Act 2:42-47- “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

The idea isn’t to shun ourselves from the world. It is actually the opposite. The idea is to live in fellowship with other believers and get involved in the community in numerous ways. The accountability factor is just easier and it makes more sense this way. It is a completely biblical idea. 

We will all support each other. Everyone will have his or her own job, but we will share what we make. To get an idea you can look at other Christian communities including, but not limited to, Jesus People USA (JPUSA) and The Simple Way.

Now, I am not one to ask for money, but this is something that God has laid on my heart, and if this is something he wants done, He will find a way to get it done, whether it be fund raising, asking for money, letting money fall from the sky, or a sudden win in the lottery. So, what I am asking you is, is this something that may be of interest to you? Would you support this idea in any way?

Some things we need are:
1) Prayer
2) Funds
3) Consulting
4) Resources
5) Ideas for anything- possibly books to read about starting a house church.

We are asking for your help with anything. If you can help in any way, let us know via message, comment, or email. Also, if you would rec this, you’d make my day!

Thanks!

Jimmy

I work in a video store. I don’t really mind it. I see a lot of pretty cool movies before they come out and it is easy, but keeps me busy at the same time. The only problem I have with working there is a lot of the customers. To me, it seems like they try to find ways to irritate me, but I am forced to stay calm and pleasant… I enjoy staying calm and pleasant, but sometimes, I just want to say, “Dude… seriously?…” This is going to sound like a disgruntled post, really, it isn’t. I just tend to get really sarcastic… Anyway, it is better that I do this on Xanga, rather than in the faces of the customers.

These are the

10 Things You Need to Know When You Rent Movies

1.) DON’T ASK ME ABOUT MOVIES THAT ARE IN THE THEATER- Chances are, I haven’t seen them and I know nothing about them. And if you are wondering when a specific movie is going to come out on DVD, wait about 2 or 3 months after it’s been out of the theater and then ask me… Just because I work in a video rental store, it doesn’t mean I know everything about movies… so please, don’t ask about the theater. I just don’t know.

(Don’t ask me when this movie comes out…)

2.) DON’T CALL AND ASK ME FOR THE THEATER’S PHONE NUMBER OR THE PHONE NUMBER OF A COMPETITOR STORE- This one makes me laugh. Why would I know the number to either of these? I don’t work there. And asking for the number of our competitor is… just… well… it’s rude. If you worked at McDonalds, I wouldn’t call your restaraunt and ask for Burger King’s number. Be lucky that I actually have worked at the local theater before, so I happen to know the phone number!

(Don’t ask me for this store’s phone number)

3.) DON’T CALL EVERY 15 MINUTES ASKING IF RESIDENTIAL EVIL 5 HAS BEEN RETURNED- Do you understand that this is where I work? I can’t be answering the phone every 15 minutes when I have a line full of customers and more customers that need my help with finding movies. Anyway, it is called Resident Evil 5, not “Residential” Evil 5. If you are wanting to play number 5, chances are, you’ve played the first four… you should know the title by now!

(Resident[ial] Evil 5)

4.) DON’T YELL AT ME FOR YOUR LATE FEES- Honestly, I wasn’t the one who turned the movies in late in the first place. I tell you when they are due back. If you can’t get them in, you can’t blame me. It is just our policy that you have a late charge.

(umm… he is running late)

5.) KNOW THE NAME OF THE MOVIE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR WHEN YOU COME INTO THE STORE- Just because I work at a video store, doesn’t mean I know what movie you are talking about when you say, “That movie that came out last year with Samuel L. Jackson.” Seriously? Samuel L. Jackson puts out at least four movies in a year. The man is in everything! I can’t always help you if you don’t know what you are looking for. We are in an age of information. Search for it online before you go in and try to rent it.

(There are mother effin snakes on this mother effin plane!)

6.) IF YOU RENT AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO LISTEN TO OUR RECENT DEALS IF YOU WANT TO SAVE MONEY!- This goes without saying. If we have a way for you to save money with no strings attached, why fight it?

(You too, could make it rain… if you get powerplay)

7.) PUT YOUR MOVIES IN THE DROP BOX UPON RETURNING- If you come into the store and set your movies on the counter, and I don’t see it, it is your fault, not mine, if someone steals it. I am just saying this to prevent an accident before it happens.

(Put the movies in here… don’t lay them on the counter)

8.) IF YOU RENT THREE MOVIES AND NONE OF THEM WORK IN YOUR DVD PLAYER, IT IS YOUR DVD PLAYER THAT IS THE PROBLEM, NOT OUR DVDS- This happens all the time. I get yelled at because the dvd’s someone has rented don’t play in their dvd player. If none of them work, how can it possibly be the DVD’s? Especially when no one has complained before??? Are the discs scratched? No? Are they dirty? No? Ok… sound’s fine to me… But to be safe, let me put it in our company’s really cheap, $10.00 dvd player that has been playing dvd’s for at least five years 24-7-365. It works?! My guess is that it is probably your dvd player. You should probably clean it or get it checked out.

(If this is what your DVD player looks like, then our movies aren’t the problem)

9.) DON’T TALK ON YOUR PHONE WHEN YOU APPROACH THE COUNTER TO CHECK OUT YOUR MOVIES- Come on, now… that’s just rude. And if you are on your phone, and I ask you the typical questions, “Did you find everything?”, “Is this it for you?”, “Do you want these for one night or five nights?”, “Would you like Playguard on your movies?”, don’t put up your pointer finger and mouth, “Hang On.” If you weren’t ready to check out, don’t come up to the counter. I probably have a lot to do…

(There wouldn’t be a long line if the person at the checkout counter wasn’t on the phone…)

10.) IF YOU DON’T HAVE YOUR ID, DON’T GET MAD AT ME IF I DON’T LET YOU RENT- When you come in to rent, you should have your membership card, if not, at least have your ID. I have to know you are who you say you are. You might get mad at me right now, but you would actually have a reason to be mad when I let someone who isn’t you rent on your account, and then I have to explain to you why YOU have to pay a $56.00 late fee. Then, all of the sudden, you want me to check your ID to make sure you are who you say you are… funny how that works, isn’t it?

(I know I should know who you are, Mr. President, but I need to see a REAL ID Card)

Presented is the movie rental store etiquette. It is as simple as 10 easy rules. Please keep these in mind the next time you rent movies!

Shalom.

I go bar hopping. I do it about every weekend. I don’t drink much. I am not into getting drunk, but I love going out.

When I go out, I go with my younger brother and his friends. Sometimes, my other roommates (I live in a house with 4 other guys.) come and hang out too.

I guess you can say that I like being around loud, drunk people. I mean, I’ve grown up with it… My dad used to be a really big drinker. He’s cut down a lot and I am proud of him, but it wasn’t just him… it was my entire extended family… they are all loud drinkers. We are Irish.

Anyway, I’ve grown up with it, so I am quite accustomed to loud alcoholics. To me, it is nothing out of the ordinary. So, I go out, not to drink, but to be around people who are having, what seems like to them, a good time. Sometimes, I strike up a conversation with people. These conversations always vary in topic, but it all ends with me sharing something about my faith in Christ. And this is what I do every weekend.

You would be surprised to see how many people actually talk to me about God. Sure, some just smile and nod and say something like, “If that works for you, great!”, but every night I am out, there is always one or two people I talk to that say, “I need to get my life together and start going to church (whatever that means).” or something similar.

Last night was a great example. I talked to an old friend I hadn’t seen in quiet a while. I don’t remember what exactly started our conversation about Christ, but I do know that my friend looked at me with tears in his eyes. He told me how good of friends we used to be and how he was my brother’s best friend, and how he started getting into a lot of bad stuff, but he didn’t want my brother to get involved in any of it because he had such a great future ahead of himself (my brother is an all star athlete… he is great at all sports… except bowling), and how he slowly backed himself out of a friendship with my brother because he didn’t want him to go down the same path he had already started. He then said that all things happen for a purpose though. He went on to explain how he had a best friend die in a car accident, 5 minutes after snorting coke with him. Then he looked up at me and said, “Do you know what that was? That was a wake-up call. That was God telling me that if I keep going down this road, I will end up in a casket, just like my friend. That was God saying, ‘Get it together. I’ve given you everything. You’re life is a gift, and I will take it all away if you don’t start acting like it.’”

He told me how he believes in God, and always has, but never grew up in Christian family. He envied mine. My family… the loud drunks, he envied because we actually sat at the dinner table as a family. We would talk, as a family. We would go to church every Sunday, as a family. He told me he envied that. Sure, my family has problems, but he looked passed them and actually saw the face of God. That is beautiful.

He wasn’t the only person I talked to, either.

One of the guys I went to the bars with was an old acquaintance from high school. I never really considered him a friend, but we totally got along, and he was cool. But I hang out with him on the weekends now.

Anyway, my brother was talking with him, and I was standing right there. Craig (that’s his name, not my brother, but the other guy) said, “Come on Kel (my brother), let’s get some ladies. Are you coming Jimmy (me)?”

“No, Jimmy isn’t here to get girls.” Kel said.

“Why not?” asked Craig.

“Jimmy has morals.” Kel replied.

Craig responded, “Ok. Whatever.”

My brother started walking out. Craig started to and stopped. He turned to me and said, “Why are you like that?”

“Like what?”

“Why don’t you go with us to pick up some ladies.”

“That’s not what I’m about Craig.”

“What do you mean?”

“I came out here to hang out and have a good time without indulging. Indulgence can be bad.”

“So you don’t want to indulge in the ladies, when you know you could do so easily?” Craig asked me.

“I try not to indulge in anything that brings a temporary gratification. I believe that anything worthy of indulgence is meant to be eternal.”

And this is where the roots began to show…

Craig asked me, “So what about this girl I like? I want to be with her so bad, but she doesn’t want to be with me. We still talk and everything, and it just kills me that she doesn’t want to be with me. I want to forget about her.”

“I had the same problem, Craig” I explained. “I know what you are feeling.”

“Yeah, but I was with her for 9 months… and she just broke up with me.”

“Try 5 years, Craig.” (I wasn’t trying to one up him or anything. I just wanted him to see that I know heartbreak too)

“Do you still talk to her?” Craig asked.

“Yeah.” I said, “She is one of my best friends.”

“Well how do you get over it?”

“I prayed, Craig. I still pray. It isn’t easy, but you get over it, but you have to want to get over it. And your prayers have to be sincere. It is easy to move from girl to girl, but doing that won’t fix anything… because when you are with those girls, you are only thinking about that one that you want to be with. I say, take time away from girls. Give yourself a break, and just hang out.”

Craig replied, “Ok, but what about your morals? How do you stick to your guns?”

“I’m not perfect, Craig.” I explained, “I do stupid stuff all the time, but I get serious. I remember why I am trying to obey and who I am trying to obey… and when you have found something so whole, so pure, so right, so amazing, you want to do all you can to preserve that. That is why I stick to my morals. That is why I choose to obey God.”

Craig responded, “I have a lot to think about, Jimmy.”

I didn’t see him for the rest of the night.

And this is why I go bar-hopping. I am a minister… and I try to be in all that I do. One thing that is easy to remember, but harder to practice is, Jesus went out to the people. He went to the sinners. He went to the sick… it wasn’t until later that people started coming to him…. because they realized who he was… and they heard the about the things he could do… and maybe that is what we have to do. We have to make our presence in the world so that people will then, go to Christ.
Last night was beautiful…. even being around a bunch of loud drinkers, I saw God’s face through the fog.

Shalom.

If I’ve learned anything through my life experiences, it would be that anything worth having is worthy of your hard work and self-sacrifice.

Seriously… Anything I have or want, requires hard work to retrieve.

Lately, I’ve been in the mood to do yard work. The last two days, I’ve spent quite a bit of my time turning soil, mulching, and cutting dead branches. Yard work is a pain the butt, but it makes me feel really good. After a long, hard day’s work in the yard, I take a step back and see what I’ve done with my own hands and I am always pleasantly satisfied.

It’s the same with the Kingdom of God. It isn’t easy being a Christian, and I’m glad it isn’t. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a Christian requires us to give up our entire selves, all of our ambitions, all of our hopes, all of our plans. It requires us to become a new creation… and change is never easy. It always takes hard work.

This is why Christians stay away from indulgence. It is easy to over indulge in the things that bring temporary gratification… sex… drugs and alcohol… greed… the list can go on and on and on… but allow me to explain something. We don’t stay away from these things because we are afraid to go to hell. We stay away from these sins because we’ve found something worthy of our hard work and self-sacrifice. That “something” is the Kingdom of God, which we are to help bring to Earth. And it isn’t easy… but as I’ve said, anything worth having is worthy of our hard work. At the end of my life, I want to take a step back, look at my life and ask God, “Well, how does it look?”

I hope his reply will be, “Well done my good and faithful servant!”

Shalom.

Lately, I’ve been wondering, “What would happen if I wet the bed?”

or in my situation, the couch.

I don’t sleep in my room for some reason…

Anyway, If I woke up and found out that I had peed my pants in my sleep, I don’t know how I would handle it. I live in a house with four other guys. I am sure I will get ragged on about it. I am certain that I would never hear the end of it. Because there is no doubt about it, at least one of them would find out… and when one finds out, the rest will hear about it.

(This is not a picture of me wetting the bed. I don’t even have a stuffed duck)

So I’ve decided, if it actually would happen… If I would actually wet the bed, I wouldn’t let anyone beat me to the punch. I will announce it. I will not be ashamed…. Well… I would be ashamed, but I would pretend like it didn’t bother me. I will tell my roommates that I wet the bed… I will get made fun of, sure… but at least I wouldn’t have to deal with the humiliation of them finding out on their own.

But this is really all a person can do to handle a situation like this. I mean, let’s face it, if it were to happen, it would be a situation that is out of my control. If I don’t wake up, I don’t wake up. I won’t be able to help it. And you know what they say if you make fun of people for something they can’t help… they say you would be better off punching toddlers… because those people are just that evil…

What would you do if you wet the bed?