Into The Wild

"As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore." Psalm 125:2

I love being in nature. I love hiking and backpacking. Something about it makes me feel more alive. Like I am free from the daily grind and worries of my life. Its utter freedom. The best thing about backpacking is not knowing where you are camping that night. There is no built shelter or house. Its a tent. It's cool to know that God will provide a very beautiful campsite for me. For the past two years I have wanted to go backpacking on the Cumberland Trail. It's a 303 mile trail from Chattanooga, TN all the way to the Cumberland Gap in KY. This picture is at Signal Point, TN which is where the trail begins.

Hopefully one day I will be able to hike all 303 miles in a backpacking trip. Nature. Mountains. Springs. Rivers. Trees. Trails. Leaves. Hills. It's all out there waitin for me one day. One day!

The Value of Life

Every Black Friday millions of Americans wake up at the crack of dawn and go shopping among the masses. Retailers bank on the idea of making so much money on this day. Shoppers eagerly await the stimulating deals and low prices. There is such a great influence on making money and spending money. It is the largest money maker day in all the year. The flow of cash on a Black Friday is exponential.

Unfortunately, a man lost his life at a Wal-Mart on Black Friday. As soon as he and other workers went to unlock the doors at 5am he was trampled to death by the unrelenting crowd. As people trampled over then man they then began to run down the isles looking for the “great” deals. I am truly sorry for the man’s family. Stuff like this should not happen.

I can’t help but think about where we place our value. I mean, people were putting more value on shopping and “great” deals than they were putting on life itself. Life is our very essence and being, yet people place more value on shopping than life. I can’t understand why people have replaced the value of life with other things.

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) The “him” that is referenced in this verse is Jesus Christ. Christ is our very life; he is our being and everything. So I feel like once again people have gotten their priorities way out of line. People haven’t just but shopping and “great” deals before Christ, they have also put money, jobs, relationships, people, and so much more ahead of Christ.

Christian Sub-Culture

I am always fascinated with the Christian sub-culture. I think it’s pretty ridiculous sometimes. Christians try to create their own microcosm of our society. There is Barnes & Noble; so we create Lifeway. The world has mentos; and we have test-a-mints. And the list continues to go on and go. Well the latest new fixation is that there is a new Christian horror movie. That’s right. Now I am all about Christians trying to stay relevant in today’s culture. But I get so frustrated when we try and create our own and draw out of the world. “Do not be conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2) Notice it says do not be conformed, but so many Christians feel like this means do be in the world. So they interpret that as stay away and create your own. Sadly that’s not what it says. It means to be like the world. Regardless we are in this world, but we can’t let it dictate who we are and what we do or become.

So back to this movie, it’s a new horror movie with some blimps of Christian theology thrown in the mix. The movie is called House. It is based of the book by Ted Dekker, and many have been waiting for this new flick. I don’t think the so called Christian sub-culture will take the bait on this one; seeing as it is a Rated R movie. I just find it very funny that there is a Christian Horror movie. That just sounds too much like an oxymoron. I guess the intent is to scare people back to Jesus. Always a good tactic…hahaha.

First Entry

So this is my first blog or entry. Not quite sure why I wanted to start this thing. I guess my goal for this thing is to really just put my thoughts out there. We will see where this thing goes in the future.