Why should we try to change the world? Is there any point?

I for one feel a huge call and feel privileged to share in Christ’s ministry in going and changing the world, however a lot of us(including me) get mixed up a lot of times on what changing the world really looks like.

Using abortion kills innocent children!! That child probably didn’t want to die, and you murdered it. It’s the same thing as a mother walking in her house and shooting her children. Jesus said “Go into the world and make dicicles of all nations baptizing in the name of the fath, son, and Holy Spirit.”

Hmmm excellent question. Technically, we’ll never be able to change the world. Never in the Bible does it say that we will be able to do so. The Bible almost always refers to the world as something to ignore or be separate from. That being said, you mentioned your friend saying “God’s will will be done anyway.” A book I read called “Just Do Something” by Kevin DeYoung (that I highly recommend that Brett’s brother Josh wrote the preface) clarified for me that there are multiple facets to God’s will. There is his will of decree, for example, today Josh A will _________. God’s will of decree includes when you’re good, when you sin, and even who is saved (yes I’m a predestination-er 🙂 ). God’s will of decree is set in stone and cannot change. On the other hand, God’s will of PREFERENCE (I don’t think that’s the exact wording the book uses btw) is what God WANTS you to do. For example, it was in God’s will of decree for Israel to sin, be captured by the Assyrians, etc. However, God didn’t want Israel to sin. This helped me a lot with understanding God’s will.

On abortion, I believe it’s totally fine to do all we can to make it illegal. While that might never happen, I believe it is murder and should be illegal.

Well, I haven’t actually answered your question yet. 😛 Honestly, I’m going to agree with @disqus_v7zgvL3EXD:disqus on this one. Your goal shouldn’t be changing the world, it should be serving the Lord, like he said. 🙂

Hope this helps!

-Josh

I’ve been getting something similar, every once in a while I’ll click on a link to bring me here and I’ll get a message saying “Error establishing a server connection” or something like that.

I’ve been getting that to. It did that to me like five times before it actually let me on today.

LOL!!!

You hit the nail right on the head!

I can’t see it. You may have to put it in a text program then repost it.

It might just be that @BrettHarris:disqus will have to let it through moderation or something. If that’s the case I apologize because I tried posting it like 5 different ways. 🙂

Kind of…this is a weighty topic and I don’t want to hijack this
thread with a bazillion comments, but I’ll try to explain in a
nutshell…

1. We believe that God has determined from the beginning of
creation who’s going to heaven and who’s going to the other place…(Revelation 13:8, Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29-30). He has chosen some to go to heaven and some to go to the other place. While some may say that this is unfair, actually God is being “unfair” by saving anyone at all! (Romans 9, esp. starting with v. 6 – this perfectly addresses the concern you brought up about putting “the responsibility on God for our choices”)

2. We believe (and this is hard to explain) that we have free will
inside of God’s predestination for us, if that makes sense.
Basically, whether we choose God or not has already been determined, and whatever we do is inside God’s plan for us. Matthew 11: 25-30 sums it up really well, and my Pastor just preached a sermon on these verses last Sunday. It hasn’t been posted to our church’s website yet, but if your interested I can post a link when it’s been uploaded. 🙂

Hope this helps!

Don’t have much time, but a synopsis of my thoughts would be that we don’t seek to change the world solely to ‘save the world’ (God has already done that on the cross)(plus you’ll burn out trying to do that-Jesus said the poor will always be here, the world will not be perfect till Christ returns.)
Our first goal in political/humanitarian efforts should be to bring God glory and turn hearts toward Him. I want people to see a reflection of God in everything I do. I want them to know His love through how I touch people. So yes, touch the lives of people, unborn, trafficked, hungry, poor, the neighbors, everybody, but, do it bc everybody needs to know Christ. It’s not my job to fix the world.

I’ve struggled with this question before. The first thought that entered my mind right after reading it was that part in Do Hard Things where Brett and Alex explain Matthew 5:13-16 (the salt and light verse). In that section, salt was used to preserve meat. Jesus calls us salt. We’re supposed to preserve the earth. The question also made me think of all the people who complain about how messed up the world is, both unbelievers and believers alike. Ask those people:
“Why do you keep complaining like you can’t do anything?” and
“What are you going to do about it?”
If no one around you is doing good, be the good.

Oooh…..this should spark some interesting conversations. 😀

It seems that what you are asking is not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with the issue of abortion (although I think we all know where each other stands). Your question seems to be more along the lines of, “Should we care?” I say yes because God still loves this world and the people in it. It’s kind of like what Gandalf says in LOTR: “We cannot chose the times we are in, all we can do is chose what to do with the time that is given to us.” We should make the most of the time we have on earth to impact it for God’s Kingdom. The more productive we are in “changing the world” the more impact we will have in the spiritual realm. But changing the world for the sake of changing the world is not a good motive. We must do our best to change the world because it is what Jesus did after all.

Hope this helps.

Hmmm well I could use the same argument against free will. If God created man with free will and God knew that man would sin, then God could still receive the blame for sin.

I believe we can both agree that God is omnipotent, and no matter what he COULD have stopped sin from happening if he had wanted to, but he didn’t. Basically, I don’t think that you have a valid argument.

Also, the very love of Christ is IN us. Of course we’re supposed to love the world. Not in a earthly kind of love that Jesus warned us about, but real compassionate love. That love that dwells in me longs for the world to be fixed. Kinda like how when a friend is hurting, we just want to make everything be okay. We cant of course, but don’t we try?

Predestination doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with extreme Calvinism (hyper-Calvinism). I don’t even consider myself a Calvinist, and I agree with predestination/election. It’s a Biblical word, found in Rom. 8:29-30 and Eph. 1:5. So, the use of the word “predestinate” did not originate with “extreme Calvinism”. It originated from Paul.

Josh A. did a very good job summing up the broad idea of predestination/election, and without hijacking a thread, I just wanted to tack something on the end that addresses your objection of man’s free will.

Eph. 2:1 says that we were “dead in trespasses and sins.” To me, that word “dead” reflects my own inability to come to Christ through my own free will, with the promptings of God in my heart. Dead men don’t bring themselves back to life, or even beg the doctor to. Dead men don’t even realize they’re dead. Only completely external help can save them.

It can be complicated, and I don’t think any of us want to wade into the depths of it right now, certainly not on this particular discussion question. I just thought I’d throw that out there if that helped you understand about free will.

I don’t want this too go crazy so I think this should be discussed, but I don’t think it will turn out profitable if we ramble on here. In light of that thank you both @disqus_oMHOgFTIn3:disqus and @disqus_joshwhatshislastname:disqus, but I just don’t agree with you. I may however look more in detail at what you are trying to say in your comments. 🙂

I believe in a form of predestination. In fact, in order to be a completely biblical Christian you have to believe in some form of predestination. However, predestination isn’t necessarily Calvinism. You see, Calvinists believe that God chooses who can get saved and who can’t get saved, but that is not what I believe. I believe God knows who will and who won’t get saved but he doesn’t choose who can get saved. God knows what will happen but He doesn’t choose what happens.

Are those last to sentences your opinion, or is that in the Bible?

In my imperfect opinion, we simply can’t know in this life:) I trust God with His nature, He is perfect and can handle His nature and the souls of men on His own. (That’s not to say we shouldn’t try to understand and discuss the nature of God. My pastor says we can and should venture into the deep end of the pool, but don’t drown there.)

I think that changing the world can be something as simple as telling one friend about Christ or serving at a homeless shelter for one day. Those are small hard things, but helpful nonetheless. Changing the world doesn’t necessarily mean you have to change the WHOLE world. Very few people will ever change the world as a whole. If you want to try, go ahead. It’s possible, just rare. How many people are known by most and have made an impact on the world, whether good or bad? Jesus (obviously), Hitler, the people in charge of the 9/11 incident, and Billy Graham are the only big ones I can think of right now. You can make a difference by doing little hard things every day.

Many little kids ask me this. My answer is:
you can’t change the world…
But you can change the people in it.

Absolutely it is still worth trying to change the world! Doubting we can’t comes from echoing lies the enemy tries to defeat us with. We are called, we are the light that pierces this dark world. Jesus hope and truth must shine!!

You don’t need to change the world yourself. You can change the world for one person, then they change it for another. And so on. The word of God spreads. (that’s how the church began 2000 years ago)

We show that video at the counselling center I volunteer at-really powerful

Whenever the error message pops up, try going to a different page on the site. The homepage is usually the only part of the site that’s not working, so just go straight to the blog or news page instead.

“Why should we try to change the world if it’s just going to get worse in the end times?”
That question almost answers itself. We don’t just want to change the world, we want to reach the world. The end times are going to be unspeakably horrible, and we want to keep as many people as possible from that time. Not only from the end times, but from what comes after that. From eternal death and separation. We do all of this to share the light of Christ. And it’s worth it to change the world.

Yeah, that fits in perfectly with a predestination worldview (shocker 😉 ) In Matthew 11:25-30 Jesus thanks God that He is predestining certain people for different places, then He invites everyone to come to Him “for my yoke is light” and all that. The Creator of the universe thought the two ideas were perfectly compatible. 🙂

@disqus_v7zgvL3EXD:disqus, @jessjesse:disqus: I don’t have time to respond to everyone’s opinions, but one thing I’m still lacking from y’all is scripture supporting free will….

I’m not trying to debate, but if you’re interested in seeing where Josh A. and I are coming from, check out Is. 10, particularly v. 5-16.. It’s a pretty interesting passage in regard to free will.

Haha that’s funny because Paul addressed this exact concern in Romans 9, especially verses 10 – 21:

10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[h] 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some
pottery for special purposes and some for common use?”

This passage is one of the cornerstones of predestination, and I highly encourage you to read the rest of the chapter, as well 🙂

Hey, great minds think alike, huh?

Hehe-yep, its confirmed, I simply can’t comprehend the way God works, I’ll let Him keep the earth spinning:) Thanks for pointing out that verse!

Yes, I also feel strongly that we should make a difference with regards to abortion because it directly impacts other lives. I was also thinking about other political issues like the legalization of same-sex marriage.
The more I look at the world’s problems, the more I see that individuals seeing Christ seems to be the only answer!

This is the most amazing article I have ever seen on predestination by Spurgeon (compiled by Randy Alcorn).
http://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Mar/22/spurgeons-theology-embracing-biblical-paradox/

Amen! @disqus_v7zgvL3EXD:disqus I agree with everything Taylor said….I couldn’t say it any better! 🙂 Thanks, Taylor!

OK possibly stupid question…who’s Katie Davis? *cringes in expectation of a result similar to when he once asked who Matthew West was* 🙂

I gave 4 verses in the my post below (I don’t think you saw it.). Thanks for your feed back. I also apologize if I came across as though I were angry, I am not. I also tend to be excessively blunt. I don’t think I will comment anymore ether. Thank you both for listening, and your polite responses! 🙂

Great analogy! Thanks so much.

Haha! People are still discovering Katie Davis. It’s all good. Matthew West, on the other hand…

Ah… the four chord syndrome. Boy, can I relate. I used to try to get into that kind of music but I can’t. (Unless its, like, worship at church. In that case, I’m all in.)
I listen to a lot of Christian hip-hop such as Lecrae, Andy Mineo, ect. Though their music is kinda controversial among Christians.
I’ve also tried listening to bands such as For King and Country. I actually like them quite a bit because they are different and DON’T suffer from four chord syndrome. 🙂

Yes!!! Here is another one from Livingwaters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0u3-2CGOMQ

Well worth the watch for the whole family!

I think I’ve seen that one… Is Ken Ham narrating it?

Right! We are called to be faithful, not to get converts. That’s Gods job.

Hi Anna! Welcome to the Rebelution!
I agree with what you’ve said 😀

I wasn’t the only one to notice the new bio! I like it too 🙂

You sound like my sister – she’ll sit down and figure out the chords for a piece of music, then she’ll call me over and say, “They have a G-center throughout the whole song! Why didn’t they put in a _______ or _____?” She too listens to classical/soundtrack stuff almost exclusively. But she also likes Mandisa… Have you tried her stuff?
And I can’t stand Michael W Smith either!
What soundtracks do you suggest? I like soundtracks, but I don’t watch many current movies that have soundtracks available to listen to, you know?

If it makes you feel better, I didn’t know who Matthew West was until I saw your comment below!

Last of the Mohicans has an excellent soundtrack. I listen to it while I school.

No problem. I like the Gettys! I saw them live at True Woman 🙂

I like it too!
“The eye of Brett Harris is on every post, keeping watch over @mimeforjesus:disqus”.

I love The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly music. Morricone’s western music was awesome!

I would like to add though (as
another Calvinist), that the goal of God is to bring Himself glory. For
example, take Isaiah 43:7 “Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the
ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created
for My glory, whom I have formed even whom I have made.”

There is also a clear picture in
Isaiah 48:9-11 “For
My name’s sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver I have
tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake,
for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.”

I would like to share something someone said(although I am
not sure who): “God did not coerce Adam to commit sin and fall, but he
certainly ordained it. Even an Arminian who thinks that God merely allowed the
fall, must admit that before God created the world he already knew what the
future would be, and so it was within his Providence for such events to take
place, for he could just have easily decided to prevent the fall…but He
didn’t. But we believe that while God did not make man sin coersively he
certainly ordained such events to occur. Consider that if God did not decree
the fall then evil is something completely outside His sovereign control … If
evil came into the universe by surprise for God, totally apart from His
providence, then there are some things He does not know or things He is
powerless over and therefore God would, by definition, lack omniscience and
omnipotence. And then how do we know whether He will be able to defeat evil in
the future if evil is outside God’s control even though the Scripture plainly
says that God ordains all events that come to pass (Eph 1:11).”

If you will like to view the whole article with a larger explanation you can go
here: http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/decree_fall.html

Ok, most “modern” Christian music I dislike.
Although I am not crazy about Matthew West’s music I do REALLY like his lyrics
from The Motions and Do Something. They are actually really GOOD lyrics. So
even if his music is bad, you have to at least give him credit for some of his
lyrics.

“This might hurt, it’s not safe
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change
I don’t care if I break
At least I’ll be feeling something ‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life I don’t wanna go through the
motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming
passion inside of me”

Or “Strong Enough” — that one got me through a lot 🙂

Ya, he is certainly a lot better lyrics-wise than most modern Christian artists.

No problem! 😀

Your saying that bad things will happen, but God also has it in his will and plan for what happens to us? But also his plan and will is for us to share his word. We weren’t saved by Jesus just for the sake of saving ourselves,we were saved to save others.

I know that one 🙂 I almost convinced my mom to use it for an event she’s planning, but she decided against it for some reason 🙁
What other songs do you like? (Not just Matthew West necessarily)

I have a whole playlist of “favorite songs”… it’ll be hard to pick specific ones! Mandisa’s “Born for This” and “Good Morning”, Casting Crowns “Courageous” and “Dream for You”, Andy Hunter’s “Go” (just because I like the sound of it), Go Fish’s “Please, Please Like Me” “You’re My Little Girl,” “You are Mine,” and “I’m a Soldier”…

Yes, I looove Matthew West’s lyrics!

And three people upvote this… do you all have the same experience, @brooklynmorrison:disqus, @disqus_joshwhatshislastname:disqus and Haylie?

Nah my closest friends go to the same church I do and know about the Gettys…I upvote most comments that are in reply to one of mine. =)

Wow OK no wonder…I’d get a bunch too, but I just have it where I get an email if I get a response or a new follower. 🙂

Seen it… and love it. I have watched all the full length videos from Livingwaters so far. I am looking forward to “Audacity” their first scripted film.

YES! They have a facebook poll going for the covers if you do facebook. It is going to be good…

https://apps.facebook.com/my-surveys/audacity?utm_source=Audacity+Poster+Survey&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Audacity+Poster+Poll

You’re very welcome 🙂 How’d you find us?

My Grandma gave me the book ‘Do Hard Things’ about two years ago, because she knows that I love sharing about the Lord and once I told her, “But I’m a teen so nobody is going to listen to me!” So for Christmas she gave me the book! haha! But I didn’t actually read it until this past summer, but it was like perfect timing for me. As I was reading it I looked it up online and found out that the website was still going. I have read the articles since this past fall, but just decided to start commenting and getting more involved just the past few days! 🙂 I was so inspired by the book that I started a blog where I could share my faith, and about the Lord. (Now I have a newer blog where it’s more just for fun!) But it has definitely made me want to do something bigger than myself, whatever that may be, I don’t know…but God does! 🙂 And knowing God…it’ll probably be hard. 😉

Do you listen to The Piano Guys? I totally love most of their music 🙂

Honestly, I’ve never had a doughnut wrapped in bacon either… I just assume it would be good. After all, doughnut=wonderful, bacon=fantastic, therefore, bacon doughnut=wonderfully fantastic. Or something like that.

I’ve heard them – I enjoy some of their music. I especially remember their Star Wars thing they did. =)

Hey Taylor I don’t want to be weird or anything, but I checked out your blog last night and I think I might have met you before…I see that you live in Houston now, but have you ever lived in Georgia?

Well… welcome!

I have facebook, but I don’t do polling stuff. Thanks anyway! 🙂

Yes, I have! I moved to Texas four years ago from the Atlanta area. Okay, that’s weird! Do you remember my picture, or where do you think we’ve met?

Well at least you have the courage to actually ask. I usually google the name and try to figure it out on my own because I’m too awkward… lol

Oops, typo. I certainly don’t believe abortion saves lives, I meant STOPPING abortion saves lives. (In the question, she said “e.g. ending abortion) I was simply referring to the example of ending abortion. Sorry if I confused you.

It’s odd the similarities we shared without knowing we’d met. We’ve both always wound up on the same threads, without knowing we knew each other. The thought vaguely went through my head when I saw you were from north Georgia, but I instantly dismissed it since there’s a lot of people in N. Georgia! That is really cool!

This is a real illustration that my speaker just used last night. It’s relevant to the topic so I think I’ll share it. “OKay, so there was a pastor who had been working himself to death and was finally forced to take a small vacation with his wife. He went to a beach-side hotel, and during the first night, there was a nasty typhoon, so in the morning he went for a walk along the beach to see the damage for himself. On, the beach he noticed that there were thousands of starfish that had been stranded on the shoreby the typhoon. He also noticed a boy going along and throwing them back in the water, He called to the boy and said “What are you doing? You’ll never make a difference! There’s thousands of them!” And the boy said, as he picked up another and threw it back into the water, “Maybe sir, but it sure made a difference in that one’s life.” And he picked up another and threw it back. “And that one’s life too.”

Yeah it’s funny because I went to your blog and saw your picture but didn’t make the connection until the next morning lol.

What’s funnier is that I just put a picture of myself on there about two days ago. Until then, I just had a picture of a bass I’d caught. So, you checked right in the knick of time!

Oh, rats! It’s an African Malawian canoe. Not the best picture, but I was in a hurry! It’s pretty hard to find a good pic that is recognizable that small!

Yeah, I wish I’d gotten a better pic. I’m not much a photographer!

True story bro 🙂

Welcome

It’s going a lot better, thanks for asking! We’re looking at getting our house ready to put on the market in about two weeks, so it’s gotten to the point of where you just throw everything in a box. When are you looking at moving?

That’s so cool! That doesn’t happen very often…

Ikr?

I love advocating for orphans in Uganda…it’s my passion. 🙂

Are you overwhelmed from all the welcomes yet? ‘Cause I can throw one more in if you want! =)

And I’ll add another one 🙂 Welcome to the Reb!

Are you serious, defyingdepravity? Again? I’ll just have to write you another letter, Lieutenant S. of the grammar police!

By the way, while on the topic of profile pics (a little further down), what’s yours? I’m taking a wild stab in the dark here, but I’m guessing a tandom kayak? Yeah, no?

It is very edifying & especially nice for people like me who have friends away at college. I can connect/make friends from all over the US this way. So great!! 🙂

Er… um… I can’t come back with a witty reply. He’s heard worse, anyway.

Yep! Me too… Welcome!

gotta love ’em!

Welcome!!!! 🙂

Haha 😉

That’s true, you haven’t been commenting as much lately. you must be busy with DHTU and stuff. 🙂

Right. But if enough people spread the Gospel and shine lights, there’s no reason we can’t change the world. It’s a team effort. We as individuals do have to start with ourselves though, I agree. 🙂

Right?! I would love to find old friends on here but I don’t…
The new friends I’ve found on here are awesome, though!

Oh my gosh! hahaha! I don’t know if I feel very welcomed here….JK! You guys are awesome! Thanks!!! 🙂

Hahaha! I think there is an error in that logic somewhere. 😀

Hahaha can I like something multiple times? Yeah my Disqus digests were really short and then I followed that same certain person… 😛

Well I think there are 2 or maybe 3 Amandas. I’m the one who asked a question today (I was the first one he picked) and it was my first time–I haven’t asked any in the previous sessions.

I couldn’t make it to last week’s session, but I’m planning to listen to the recording. I meant to do it before today’s session but it didn’t work out.

Were you the one reminding Brett to hit record? 😛

wow! great illustration! I like to say that ‘you cant change everything for everyone, but you can change something for someone.’

Is Amanda T. doing it?

Well it’s a good thing to remember, not everything is going to be easy.Glad you liked that! 🙂
Haha! I don’t know…still feeling a little left out! Just kidding! lol! 🙂

Okay, so I comment a LOT! What is a Disqus digest? I missed that part, I think 🙂

Hit record…?

Think about it long enough and it works, you know?

It’s a daily or weekly email sent out by Disqus that has a list of possible conversations you might be interested in, primarily ones that people you are following have commented on. =)

Stupid question: Do you guys pronounce Disqus like “discuss” or like “discus” as in discus throwing – the mini frisbee event in the olympics?

Hmmm….
-Drops in the Ocean (Hawk Nelson)
-There is power in the name of Jesus (Tasha Cobbs)
-Shoulders (For King and Country)
-Every Bit of Lovely (Jamie Grace.)

Plus probably about to million other “favorite songs.”

Just because I say it’s my favorite song doesn’t always mean I don’t have nine other “Favorite songs.” lol

Majority vote is not always correct. 😉

If u cant help 100 people , then help 1 person.

I’m not the only one who wonders!? Good. I always said it like the frisbee event on the olympics, but ya know. I’m probably wrong 😉

Sweet and salty isn’t always bad. Chocolate dipped pretzels are yummy 🙂 (Although I agree, bacon-wrapped doughnut sounds a nasty)

Why wreck a good doughnut with bacon… It’s a masterpiece on it’s own! 😉 (So is bacon, come to think of it)

Alrighty, sounds good to me!

What was your first name?

If you tag me, you can see it, but i’m not supposed to say 🙂

I hit that problem with my first profile pic, too 🙂

Agreed 🙂 Any advice on finding a mentor? I’ve got this one friend who’s seven years older than me, but now we’re not getting to see each other as often… I guess that comes from living three hours apart from each other so I kinda need to find someone new.

Yes! Rend is pretty great.

Preach it, sister! Lol 😀

Same here 🙂

I havn’t tried that so I wouldn’t know.

In the example of abortion, think about the lives that are lost if we don’t change it.

Sounds interesting…

Yes
Welcome to “The Reb!”

Welcome!

Great thanks! I’ll have to keep up with that, it looks cool! 🙂

So true! Welcome to the Reb! 🙂

Haha good response thanks @brooklynmorrison:disqus ! I’m a guy and sometimes a little insensitive to feelings like companionship, love and stuff like that. 😉 lol

Hmm, somehow I can’t picture you looking like your profile pic…

Welcome to the Reb. I totally agree with you!

Haha of course not! Glad you did, I was far less qualified to answer it than you obviously. lol But yeah I see what yahh mean now, mentors are good. I’ve just never thought of them as “mentors” I guess. Yah know, it would be so cool if me, and you and mimeforJesus would meet and just talk about Christianity and discipleship and stuff like that!!!

Welcome and good comment. 🙂

I don’t necessarily call them “mentors” either, but I’ve heard other people use that.
Yes!!! That would be so cool!!! I’m in Ohio though 🙂
What would be AMAZING is a Rebelution (or Do Hard Things) conference. We could learn a lot and meet other teens from the site. Does this exist or did I just make it up? 🙂

That is a really good illustration 🙂

Hey @disqus_lexn0BUA88:disqus! Welcome to the Reb!

Lol…I know exactly what you mean. I could probably be considered a talker now, but definitely not a couple years ago! I would love to meet you in person someday…what state do you live in? (Or do you live in a state?) it’d be so fun if someday we had a big get-together with you and me and Brett and Sam and other Sam and the other Amandas and all the other people I’m not thinking of at the moment (sorry guys)…might have to save that idea for heaven though!

It would be the coolest thing ever!

I want to meet all of you someday. 😀

I’m in Michigan too!! You finally found someone. 🙂 I have a long list too, just couldn’t think of them all at once. And you and trent in the nursing home together…oh dear…that’s a picture…lol 🙂

Lol 🙂 But why me??? I resigned from NSA! But I hear you’re with the FBI… Brett should be watching you!

welcome to the Reb, glad your here!

little late, but Welcome!

Yes! I’m in! 🙂

So you just stopped getting emails about it? I need to cut down on here… :/

Wow, by the time I got here it looked like you’d been here forever! Any advice on how to cut back? You’ve had experience…

I’ll look them up, too!

Okay, I was thinking “hit a record”, which makes absolutely no sense!

If this is this important to you, you need more of a life…

This is a weird comment to see when I’m scrolling through my emails from Diss-kiss 🙂

You’re right, as usual 🙂
I mean, his logic of “good + great = awesome!”

Thanks!

where is something central that we all would be able to get to? and another thing to think of is summer plans. what date should we do it on?

Me to!

Hi! Welcome to the Rebelution 🙂

I agree with Amanda!

Yeah 🙂

What would you change it to?

Oh, cool 🙂

Can you tell we’re friendly people here? 😛 Welcome to the Rebelution!

You have bad memories about donuts? How can you say such an evil thing????? 😉

Isn’t it convenient that you live close to Missouri? 😉 Hmmm my great grandparents live in St. Louis how close are you to the arch and stuff?

Okay, tell me if this sounds crazy, we use the rebolution blog to take a survey to find out which state has the most rebolutionaries, find a stadium/auditorium in that state, everybody raises funds, for food, rent etc, and we could do sessions on like discipleship and stuff!?? And of course meet all the people we follow and stuff. Like fo real!

One last thought:) Yes God’s will will be done, but He chooses use people (primarily His people) to accomplish His will! He used Moses to shape Israel, He used pagan rulers to correct them, He used all kinds of people to bring Jesus to earth, and now He uses His church to carry His Gospel!

Sounds great!!!

Don’t get your hopes up or anything this is just an idea that’s still being formed. But yes, if it comes together it certainly will be great! Haha

Okay okay!! I’m sorry! lol Well that’s a bummer. Oh and you’re name is Grace right? Praying for mimeforJesus is a little strange. Haha

Haha I have faith in us! We’re a bunch of potential just waiting to be used! And exactly! Do Hard Things. And I think so, if I could talk on the phone with Trent or Brett or someone that would be perfect! Just to see if this is doable and share our game-plan with them might be worth doing. 🙂

Yeah! But Missouri is centrally located…. And Branson is close. It is a tourist magnet, and there is lots of things to do for the family there. A lake. 🙂
4 hrs from ST Louis, I think.

Haha I think so! It would be so beneficial and helpful to everybody who would be able to come, I think. 🙂 And me too! We’re all called to action. For such a time as this.

Yeah that’s true. It needs to be more than just a social get together. Like Isaiah said it should be beneficial and helpful to who would be able to come.

Okay, there are some great comments here, but here’s what I, the amazing and oh-so-authoritative, have to say:
The world as we know it will end. Flame and fire will devour this earth when it will be renewed. That cannot be prevented, we cannot change that fact. But we can change the people who live on this world. Let me make an analogy:
Once upon a time, quite a while ago, there was a guy named Noah. You know the story. God told Noah that He would drown the planet because of all the wickedness He saw, but in His mercy, God told Noah to build the ark. So Noah built the ark and brought his family and many animals aboard. So they were spared.
We are in a similar situation. We are told there is a day of wrath coming very soon and we need to get the passengers aboard. The “Ark” is built by Christ, who is its Captain. Its name is “Salvation” and it will save us and all aboard. Everybody else will drown. We are rescue workers trying to bring others on to the boat. Our situations will get worse as the rain starts to pour. The days will get harder as the day approaches. That’s why God gave us tools to help us. It’s hard, but it’s a matter of eternal life or death.
Feel free to correct me, but I think this is about right.

Right, I totally agree. What I’m saying is I don’t want him to have to worry about its setup, fundraising etc. But yeah that would be awesome if he’d do it. I don’t know him but if he’d do it then great! But remember, these are all just ideas that need verification first. Once we form a solid game-plan we can contact a moderator to see if it’s viable. Right, and that’s just it, we need to talk with him on the phone or something.

Yes. Here is a little info from about page:
Alex and Brett accept a few speaking invitations each year, though their availability is limited. For more information contact their publicist, Lynette Kittle: lkittle [at] randomhouse [dot] com

But doesn’t spreading the gospel change the world?
If we spread the gospel, and it eventually reaches leaders, and they get to know Christ, they’ll make decisions from a Christian viewpoint. And that changes the world. So aren’t the two goals kinda the same?

It’s in the Bible. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Whosoever is a formal term for whoever. Whoever means any person at all. The Bible also says that God knows everything. Therefore, God KNOWS who gets saved but he doesn’t CHOOSE who gets saved.

Yes, I couldn’t help it. #ethanthestalker

OKay will do.

Ok, well maybe it drizzled a little. 🙂

Haha great idea!

I’m not quite sure I get it. I mean, I get the at instead of @, but is anything else extra? Are you saying there’s nothing about French toast? Lol

I don’t remember exactly when I started reading, but I still have the ‘A real woman…’ picture saved on my camera roll 🙂

I didn’t say God CAN’T choose who can get saved. He can, but He chooses NOT to choose who can get saved. It’s hard to define the line between predestination and Calvinism because there’s not necessarily a large amount of scripture on it. However, I have noticed that a lot of the verses that have words like predestine are addressed to or referring to the saved, not the unsaved.

Also, I’m sorry I didn’t reply to your question sooner. I’ve been procrastinating a bit.

Ok I think I got it. 🙂

Hey, what languages do you program in?
Ruby? CSS? or just HTML?

Wow, I understood nothing of what you just said…lol

The thing we have to remember, is that yes things are going to be extremely hard but my Sunday school leaders always say that we should not be discouraged or worried about what is to come. Because God has a plan, and in that plan he will protect. The bible says that God will not leave us or forsake us, so even when those waves rise, we will not drown. 🙂 I like you analogy, and I am not correcting anything, just more of encouraging everyone! 🙂

what no c++?

it’s ok I don’t program in ether. I am sticking to the basics
#darkbasicpro

nice….. never heard of it 🙂

nice. very nice.

programing languages… I think

Nobody 🙂

You need Blaise Pascal though…

what?!? I got lost.

At least you have one… I don’t. But I also think it would be cool to learn Greek.

yeah, couldn’t ask for more…

exactly…for the most part

Thanks, Brooklyn!

Rubik’s cubes don’t actually require that much patience… If you get the guide. Just google “Rubiks cube official guide sheet”, that should help. A sibling of mine does the 3×3 in sub-30 seconds… I know, how is that possible?!
I read just about everything, I’ve been known to read everything from sets of encyclopedias to heavy theology, but my favourite type of book is a fantasy, preferably written by one of the Inklings. There are a few kinds of books I cannot stand, let’s see:
Books that tell you how to build a perfect society. I especially dislike Utopia by Sir Thomas More, despite everybody else’s rave reviews.
Cheesy “Make your life better in 3 easy steps” books. You know what I mean, “Eat this superfood and you’ll magically become healthier” sort of books. I think I dislike them so much because they say that without any work you can be any sort of better.
Sappy, fluffy romances. Ugh. Bring on the real books, people!
But that’s all negative. I love to read about ancient cultures and history that’s actually interesting, theology is challenging but enlightening, and I’ll never get sick of Narnia!

Lol the tag and the tag actually worked! It took them out of that little section of code! 😀

Wait! They published their book through random house? I didn’t even realize that haha. Oh well.

Oh thats cool! Yeah we’re basically southern Ohio 🙂 Meeting up would be pretty cool! I only come by Harrisburg in the summer, anyways. 🙂

Sounds awesome! 🙂

Do Hard Things was through Multnomah, but Random House published Start Here

Hey @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus and @disqus_clxqoYwM08:disqus, can you shoot me an email ([email protected]) to fill me in on what you’re thinking of doing?

Whoa!!! I didn’t think anyone would be up for the whole “conference” idea. Way to get things rolling!!! Please let me know what I can do to help!

What if we did more than one? One on east coast, one on west coast? Does that seem like too much?

Probably to start off. I just emailed Brett, so we will see what happens. 🙂

It is through Multnomah Publishing! I have no clue why their publicist is from Random House, maybe their second book Start Here was published through Random House. Idk

It is totally worth the effort. All we need is a few Rebelutionaries who are up for the challenge. 🙂
With God, all things are possible!

Oh thanks! I didn’t see it.

Sorry, that kinda came off wrong on my part… my apologies 🙂

Speaking of both books – I just started “Start Here”. Thank you so much for writing a second book! It seems to be answering all of my questions 🙂

~Well, I’m not responding to myself…
~You can choose to subscribe or not? I thought it was all or nothing!
~Upvoting… I do that, too.
~I don’t have a phone… but I’m using the same computer for schoolwork and for online stuff, so I’m seeing notifications anyway.
~Don’t try to be cool… you want to explain more? Not sure how that was meant 🙂
~FRENCH TOAST!!!!
~Thanks, I do feel obligated to answer most questions. *Closes tab where I was going to answer a question not directed at me*
~Real time with God… Thank you for the reminder! That’s dropped off in the last month or so. 🙁
~School: same as real time with God. I’m on Module 3 in Science right now (long story, but I was okay to be behind until December. Then I was supposed to catch up again, and it didn’t really happen)
~Cold Turkey looks like a great idea!!!!!

Okay, cool 🙂
I just realized, I don’t know — are you a guy, or a girl? Random question, but I’m innately curious.

Yeah, I know….Maybe we scared her away with our welcomes….:)

Okay, I actually know a guy Taylor and a girl Taylor, so I wasn’t sure…

Yeah, I remember that. I think we need to tone down our welcomes…it would probably intimidate me too…

That’s really sad…

I guess I meant older friend/advisor. Person I can come to if I have questions, and who I can know will give me good advice. 🙂

lol 🙂

lol, no… someday I might put up a pic of myself, though 🙂 Depends on how well my identity is concealed in the picture. Maybe in mime face…

Yeah, took me a while but I figured it out!

Excuse me for jumping in, but that sounds *amazing*. 😀 Just sayin…

Oops speaking of procastination. 😉

Yeah, also if you’re interested in seeing where I’m coming from check out these verses: Revelation 13:8, Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29-30, Romans 9, esp. starting with v. 6, and Matthew 11: 25-30. 🙂

Man, I almost want to be a moderator on here, just so I can read all these comments.

I didn’t know that! If I had all the time in the world to view all the comments, maybe I would do that. 😉

I think you just fit in so well, I didn’t even realize you were new. 😉

Oh I know, right? I’m still laughing, though….can’t believe you took the time to scroll all the way down 🙂

lol 🙂 Yeah, it would take a while… but it was on the “How do you share Christ with someone who doesn’t want to be preached at”. I’ll bet you could find it!

Yeah… I’m not quite that devoted. Yet!

Hey guys, really badly off-topic, but…
I’m looking for “You might be a homeschooler if…” lines, like Blimey Cow’s videos. It’s for a homeschool event this weekend. You guys have any ideas? @programguy:disqus @disqus_zxr2krNx5O:disqus @disqus_rHUVb4P7uQ:disqus @MyNameIsAnigoMontoya:disqus @everyone! @nathanaelbarker:disqus

Found it I think =)

Lol thanks

You might be a homeschooled if you think of 12 people your age as a ‘crowd’
You might be a homeschooler if your favorite teacher is your mom!
You might be a homeschooler if your classmates are your siblings

IKR? I just put that one in our lineup! But with Facebook friends instead of Disqus followers… it’s more recognizable, you know?

Yeppers, you did!

That would be AWESOME! Maybe someday, if I end up moving near Ottowa 🙂 I think the one place we’re looking at going is a couple of hours away *smiles*

Hey do you have an email? And yeah, that would be cool! Oh that’s neat, maybe we can meet this summer! *cheesy grin* Haha

You might be homeschooled if you look in a mirror, and call it a class reunion.
You might be homeschooled if you consider 8:00 in the morning early (though that’s probably just me ;p)
I’ll let you know if i think of any more 🙂

You might be a homeschooler if you walk into a public school and consider it foreign land.
Like, no joke. It’s weird to me every time.

You might be a homeschooler if you’re the valedictorian of your class…as well as having the highest and lowest GPAs of your graduating class. I don’t know, that sounded un-eloquent…maybe you could salvage it. 😉

You might be a homeschooler if you don’t fit in.
You might be a homeschooler if you are always going against the flow.
You might be a homeschooler if you are reading this post.
You might be a homeschooler if you consider 6:00 in the morning early.
You might be a homeschooler if you love Jesus Christ!
You might be a homeschooler if you Do Hard Things.

Ohhhh ok. 😉

That would be awesome!! Kind of like a class reunion, except, you know, none of us have actually *met* yet… #rebreunion

You might be a homeschooler if you get a school holiday if your mom is sick that day.

You might be a homeschooler if your family has a schedule of who does music practice when, because people complained so much when someone tried to practice while someone else was taking a test.

You might be a homeschooler if the day all your curriculum comes in the mail is a REALLY big deal.

You might be a homeschooler if homeschool conventions are an annual holiday in your family.

You might be a homeschooler if science experiments are a not-to-be-missed highlight of the week.

You might be a homeschooler if you don’t think twice about going to the grocery store with your mom at 2pm on a Thursday.

You might be a homeschooler if you know the librarians at your local library by name, and they remember your family every time because you have so many siblings.

You might be a homeschooler if every time your family’s piano gets tuned, everyone wants to drop everything and watch. And your mom is thrilled because it’s a “learning experience”!

You might be a homeschooler if at at least one point in time, there have been tadpoles growing in a tank in your kitchen.

You might be a homeschooler if you have to clear the school books off the kitchen table before you can eat lunch.

You hear the school bus coming past your street in the morning and figure it’s about time to get out of bed.

You might be a homeschooler if you have ever played the Boxcar Children in your backyard with your siblings.

You might be a homeschooler if family vacations are more like extended field trips, and in the car your parents even have you read books related to the historical monuments you’ll be seeing.

Okay, I got a little carried away there… oops… haha at least you have lots of ideas now!

You might be a homeschooler if you jumped at the sight of this post on your Disqus feed. 😛
You might be a homeschooler if you sing geography songs on the toilet, the times tables in the shower and the periodic table as you wash up.
You might be a homeschooler if you rarely go on vacation during normal school holidays – you do school in the holidays and go afterwards, when it’s quieter and cheaper.
You might be a homeschooler if your lunches consist of gourmet things you whip up – scrabbled eggs with potatoes, a Greek salad, pasta with pesto, parmesan and olives, etc

I see “Pascal” and all I can think of is the chameleon from the movie Tangled… you’re doing better than me, lol

I forgot about him! 😀 He’s so funny….

That’s really frustrating… My family was split up for four months once because of that – my dad in Kentucky for the job, and my mom and the rest of us in Michigan because the house hadn’t sold yet.
Oh, the mime team, and co-ops that are fun enough that I think of them as extracurriculars….

I do!!!

Right? It would be like meeting someone for the first time but you’ve known them for months or years… #strangestfeelingever

Amen to THAT~~!!

LOL 🙂

Agree totally! We should all be friends…

Oh… one of those stalker types!

No, actually you can find my first name on the “Don’t Get Distracted” post on here… I wrote it 🙂

I got 100 new posts, too!
You can choose which posts you subscribe to? How?

😀 Yeah, I’ve been around a while 🙂 I was going through the archives and recognized some of the articles from November 2012 🙂

I am SHOCKED by the amount of Rebelutionaries that are homeschooled! One more reason for loving this site. 🙂

LOL on the library one… That’s just like my family 🙂

First, Christ said to change the world – it’s our mission. Jesus came into the world to bring about change, and then He left us with the command to go into all the world and preach the gospel – His gospel – which will inevitably change the world. So, since Jesus was a world-changer, being a Christian (follower-of-Christ) automatically makes us world-changers. And much more than that, it is our mission from our Captain. It’s our “prime directive.” So it is overwhelmingly crucial.

More than that though, you mentioned your friend had said, well God’s will is going to be done anyway. That’s true. God’s over-arching plan will take place. However, you may be the instrument of God’s will. If you choose to obey God and serve Him, He will use you.

And you may be the one that He needs at just the right time. You may be the one through whom God saves countless babies through your witness at an abortion clinic. Maybe that one mother decides to save her baby’s life, when that baby would have died if you had not been there. Think about it. Maybe that person would not have been reached. Or maybe that homeless person was planning to go jump off a bridge or something, and your smile gave them hope. You never know. And what might they do? Who will that baby grow up to be? (I love Isaiah’s story!)

God’s will is impenetrable, and cannot be fathomed by our finite minds. It’s all really confusing to me. But God calls and you answer and then you follow. Changing the world is important because it is important to God and God gave it to His Son as His mission and then He gave it to you as yours.

That is why it is important, and that is why we should strive to change the world. And remember, all things can be done through Him who strengthens us. It is all for His glory anyway.

Re political changes…. If you stop fighting, you lose, because you are not gaining ground. If you are not pulling on the tug-of-war rope, you are getting pulled. Sometimes it seems like things may never change, esp from a political standpoint. But God needs us there. If only to be a voice. Who knows His plan. We are to be in the world, but not of it – we are to be in the world, but follow Christ – we are to be in the world, but change it, because we are who we are, and He is who He is.

A good thing to remember when you feel discouraged, and wonder where God is in all of this, and what’s the point: In C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters,” his character, the wise old devil, writes to his protégé: “Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

Don’t give up. Onward and upward always.

I hope this helps (and makes sense). 🙂 I realize I am getting on here late, and I haven’t had time to read through all the other answers, but the ones I have are really good. 🙂

Haha okay, cool! You little writer you! 🙂

Exactly!! 😀

YES! Are you sure we’re not related? xD Lol!

Really? ‘Cause my dad has a “Beginners Guide to Biblical Greek” that I’ve only opened once! I’m kind of hoping for the osmosis thing to happen… like “if it sits there it will magically float into my head.” Probably not. Maybe I’ll learn the Greek alphabet after I get a handle on Spanish. x)

True, true! 😉

Hmm, I like the name Laura! Good writing BTW. 🙂

Thank you 🙂 I like my name, too. Weird thought: What if someone doesn’t like their name? What do they do, short of changing it officially?
Okay, weird thought over. Thanks, I really enjoy writing; it’s one of the best ways for me to organize my own thoughts, and then I get to share them with you guys! 😀
I thought I had to use a fake first name online, but turns out it’s okay. So yes, I said at one point that I was Grace… Sorry for misleading you and everyone else.

Yeah, really…
I just met a Tye today! But he’s not from TX…
I get called my sisters’ names all the time 🙂 But I think yours is worse. You don’t even have your own name anymore. Do you have people walk up to you and address a question to Tye, and then they expect you to answer?

I was eight at the time, so I didn’t really mind that much… it was different for my mom, though — that must have been hard!
How’s it going now?

Thank you 🙂

Right…
I’m going to change my settings so I only get emails from an reply to my comments. I have started spending a lot of time on here. I’ve known that I should try to cut down, but it’s a lot easier to talk about it than to actually change.
Quick question (and I have no idea how this is related, but it is somehow): Is it okay to be bored with the Small Hard Things, when I still haven’t mastered them? I keep looking for Big Hard Things, but I’m not finding them yet. I think that’s part of why I’m on here so much; I feel like I’m doing something bigger on here, which isn’t really the case… playing a game with my little brother is more important than answering someone’s question on here!

I would recommend Codecademy – it’s a (free! :D) website where you can learn PHP as well as HTML and CSS, Javascript, jQuery, Phython, and Ruby. I did the course on HTML and CSS and found it really good. The lessons are short and they explain things in plain English, so you understand what they’re talking about. 😀 It might be only at a beginner level, but I think it’s worth checking out. 🙂

I did end up using it 🙂
I think it was, “You might be a homeschooler…
~if you’re in the top 10% of your class… but that doesn’t mean anything
~if you’re the valedictorian for your class… but that doesn’t mean anything, either”

Its weird!!!

Hey, my aunt is named Sue! Not that I even know her really…

It’s fine, that’s a good policy! Well no I’m not, I was home-schooled for my first two years but since then I haven’t. Well, unless you live in either Missouri, Kansas, Pennsylvania or New York, our chances of meeting are slim, unfortunately.

True. Very true. Okay, I and Ethan were discussing this today and this is where the rubber meets the road: it’s easy to talk and say “That would be awesome!” but when people have to start spending and fundraising and committing, people aren’t quite as excited. And our project is only in the reach of our abilities if we have a large team of teens who will commit to working in their area of expertise. But yes, with God ALL things are possible. 🙂 Keep that mind-set through thick and thin and you’ll be doing more than some of the great men and women of the Scriptures. 🙂

It would be interesting to find out! Oh I’m so curious now…..curiosity has gotten people into so much trouble! Like when Digory struck the bell! 😉 Haha And of course we could!!! I think that if just twenty teens would REALLY commit than we’d have the funds. But of course everybody who wants should come. And yes, good verse! Well, I’ll be off the Blog for about a week, going to missouri to compete!! So excited! Ulale Kahle! (That’s Zulu for goodnight) 🙂

awesome 🙂

It’s going much better, thanks for asking! I’m actually starting to look forward to it. 🙂

Cool! I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the info!!

Hmm….I don’t think you answered. But yeah I think some people might have done that. The reason I started was because I felt bad for being the one that didn’t welcome people, so I just did it a few times 🙂
It would be interesting to do that…I bet people would welcome you, if they didn’t see this conversation 😉

Hi there, @disqus_I0CVhoqWL2:disqus! You know, you kind of summed up what everyone else is saying, but you made it a lot more concise 🙂
Welcome to the Rebelution! 😀

Thanks guys! I didn’t notice people saw new people. Yeah, I was hoping this would answer the question.

Welcome! 😀 If your first comment happens to be on the more popular threads, be prepared for a tremendous, extravagant, overwhelming welcome (*cues @Trent Blake @mimeforjesus and @Sam S. *) filled with French toast, pickles, avatar comments, and maybe-just maybe-some Yoda speech. Don’t say you weren’t warned!! Lol but seriously, welcome to the Reb!

Yep, we notice new people…
The video actually is kinda similar to a post I wrote for somebody’s blog!

Wowwww…

IKR? It’s awesome!

Hey! Some…

I reformed!!!

Hey! I’m insulted! 🙂

Right. God Is sovereign, and man has a responsibility. They are both taught in the bible, right next to each other. Just because we can’t comprehend it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Try to comprehend anything outside of time!! (Think eternity)

French toast monsters… O dear… =D

Tragic! Don’t let it happen again! xD

I’m glad you liked it! It is one of my favorite quotes ever. 🙂
That notebook idea is fantastic! I will totally have to do that….
Btw, I saw you mention that C.S. Lewis is one of your favorite authors? Which of his books have you read, may I ask?

This is a really great question. I actually struggled with it myself when I went on a mission trip two years ago. It was agonizing for me to see such pain and hurting. I instinctively felt that I needed to change the world. I didn’t want the brokenness and pain to exist anymore. While I was on the mission trip, I wrote in my journal and pleaded with God to help me understand why I felt so helpless and small compared to the world’s suffering. The truth that He revealed to me was that I can’t change the world. No human being can. I am not here to do Jesus’ job.
But what I can do through the strength and wisdom of God is change the world for a single person. I can love someone the way He has first loved us. I can hurt with those who are hurting and grieve with those who are grieving.
Its just simply what He has called us to do.

Aw I’m glad it’s crazy! Haha

Yeah, bro! 🙂 Preach it!

Agreed. I kinda wondered myself, but I’m new to social networking so I figured you guys knew what you were doing…
New hashtag instead of #samthes******! #samthesmartguy 😀

No prob 🙂

Hmmm, I’ve never watched a horror movie… Sounds pretty freaky!

Hey Brett, I didn’t get a chance to see your comment until after you closed the Thread to What do you love about these discussions?

Let me just say, I totally feel your pain! On Soldiers of God, one post got to about 1200-1400 comments, I was done. Haha. It’s fun at first, until you have to review a given number of comments a day whereas 90% of them are for the one post.

Haha. That’s definitely a wise choice there.

God bless!
– Trent

That is hilarious…I probably wouldn’t have recognized you either. 😛

Sort of. It would have to be at different churches across the nation, and live streamed from Brett. I don’t know what will happen; its kind of in Isaiah’s court.

So… I must have gotten you mixed up with someone else; I thought you didn’t like writing. Oops! Do you have anything online that you’ve written? I’m really curious – where did you see me as Grace? The only place I can think of where I said I was Grace was on Not Just A Teen, and I don’t think I’ve seen you over there…
I like how the missionary put it; who was it? If I’m going to quote him I should know his name!
Oh, and I have an update on my move – the company decided to promote my dad to his new position, and so long as they can agree on a salary (which is really likely) I’m going to be moving out near you (probably) in early-mid May.
How was your conference-thingamabob?

Hey, How did Regionals go? I hope you get to go to internationals, it’s amazing!!! How many kids go to your Regionals? I hope you had a blast! (It would be hard not to) 🙂

Yeah probably. And no I don’t. I saw someone (I forget who) thank you for on of your comments as Grace. It was probably in February. Tell me more about them and I might be able to help. Oh sweet that’s awesome!!!! Lord willing we’ll be able to meet each other then. I’ll probably be going to a youth-camp near you or something. And I just replied to Haylie about it so you can read that. Srry, I guess…what? haha whatever I’m tired

Thanks! I did my best! Yeah I haven’t been there yet but I’m planning on this year. And yeah sounds pretty legit! 🙂

And I want to meet you, too 🙂 What region of the country are you?

Yeah… I wasn’t too sure how much of that was from the one thread and how many emails were from the other threads I was subscribed to 🙂
That was CRAZY while I was subscribed to that many!

Yay 🙂 I did tell you that I’m moving for sure, right? I’ll be praying that everything works out smoothly for y’all.
Nice profile pic, by the way!

I just might try that 🙂

Oh, thank you 🙂

You did, sorry I’ve been so slow in responding! Still praying for you. We’ll be moving at about the same time! Hope everything works out!

haha, you’re not slow… I was replying to 7-day-old comments earlier today!

This time — and it was six minutes, actually.
I still have emails in my inbox from a couple of days ago; I just see “current” emails first. :/

Right, I’ll make sure I include pickles next time…
I like your profile picture!

Whoa, name change! 🙂

Haha yup! OKay what’s with the new name? Thespian is a mythical creature right?

Okay, so in Utopia, people have to take switches being farmers, city workers, etc. Unless you’re really smart as a kid, in which case you’re whisked off to become a scribe.
So everybody is in charge of working a farm sometime in his/her life.
So in the book, the Giver, there’s a kid named Jonas, who lives in an unnamed city. This city is a city where everything is controlled to the utmost, where there is no color, emotions amount to nil, and people have, in general, lives that are assigned to them. So basically, you’re born at a giant facility, assigned to a couple that signed up to receive a baby, you go through your childhood being closely watched, and the people who govern the city choose your job, your spouse, and just about everything else. But Jonas is weird, so special stuff happens to him. Haven’t watched the movie, though, so I can’t tell you anything about that.
The White Lion series sounds kinda like Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis. Christopher Tolkien finished off a bunch of books of his father’s that never got done, so chances are you’ve already read him.
Perettti’s books that I’ve read,
This Present Darkness,
Piercing the Darkness,
I read those when I was like, 10, maybe 11, so I don’t remember them too well.
The Visitation. (REALLY WEIRD!!!)

Thanks! =D

Tell you more about “them”… what was “them” again?
Yeah, that’d be great – I’d love to meet you someday! And if I end up near Ottowa… 🙂

I was talking about… I don’t know how to describe it. I saw your comment to Haylie (or somebody else? I can’t remember) so I have my answer, even if you weren’t talking to me 🙂

Wow, that sounds so awesome!

So to be Missouri resident, right? We’re stealing you!

Haha. That’d be fun! Oh well…
🙂

Yeah… I figured if I’ll be moving away from my team, I’m not going to be a mime anymore, so I changed it. I think “thespian” (actor/actress, FYI) fits me better now, anyway. 🙂

“Thespian” is an old Greek name for an actor/actress.
I changed my name because I realized I draw a lot of my identity from being a mime, and while that’s a part of me, it’s not all of me. And I’m moving away from my team, so I won’t be one anymore 🙁

Set your friends in the NSA on them!

I resigned from the NSA… now I’m a long-distance correspondent for the CIA! (If you mean the mime team “Christ In Action” from California…)

Okay!

Haha I love the ACE way of learning. My mind-set and it are like two peas in a pod. 🙂 And yeah it’s a world-wide organization. It’s basically everywhere. 🙂

Utopia sounds… interesting. Not Utopian!
And The Giver sounds interesting, but in a good way. I’ll look into it 🙂
Oh, yeah – like The Silmarillion, right?
Well, you might like “The Veritas Project” (two-book series) and “The Cooper Kids” (8-book series). For both of these series, the books are stand-alone. I’m finding that I don’t really like most of his books… his teen series (Veritas and Cooper Kids) were my favorites, I think.
I’m starting The Visitation. So far I think I agree with you in your assessment… Now to find out it it’s a good weird, or a bad weird.

🙂

Oh, okay 🙂
So how’s life been going for you recently?

Ah, I never knew that!

Gotcha. Hmm, I see.

Oh lol I forgot about that 😉 I am reading them in the order published, so I meant “The Horse and His Boy.” 😉 Out of curiosity, which of the 7 do you like best? My favorite is “The Silver Chair.” But the Voyage is close behind. Yeah my dad took me to a play of The Great Divorce – it was powerful! A Grief observed is another I have been really wanting to read for a while now, too. 🙂

Well, Brett gave me this long message about when you don’t read you’re Bible or pray, it’s not because youdon’t have time. It’s because you care less about that object/person than whatever consumed your day. Well that settled it. I’ve waken up every morning since with a longing to not disown God by my neglect of Him. So that means every day that you spend without personal time with God, it’s basically an active sin against God! THAT’S close to home ain’t it??? Well that fixed me good. And my experience was this: Just recently I realized by reading the Word, that Christians don’t borrow, and that GOd takes care of His children. Well, at the Convention in Missouri that I talked about we had to pay our own meal on the way back. So I didn’t ask for money and got in line. Then as soon as I finished ordering someone behind me said to put my bill on theirs! It was pretty cool. 🙂 My Faith really got boosted by leaning on God. And I’m glad that you’re doing well! Yeah that sounds rather dismal… And that’s great! I’m sure they’ll miss you!

Agreed! So true.

That does hit close to home! I’ll have to remember that (when I’m over the headache I just got from being smacked in the head with the proverbial two-by-four).
That is a great story! Fantastic example of Gods provision 🙂

I just quoted ^^ in a blog post I sent somebody… 🙂

Then I realized I should probably let you know 🙂
Do you read Not Just A Teen?

Link to Not Just A Teen? Here it is: http://notjustateen.blogspot.com/ Nathan Tasker runs it; it’s his blog. I sent him a guest post a couple of months ago; I think it was in January. I sent him another today 🙂

🙂 It’s a great way for me to organize my own thoughts, and then all of you can read them too!
Nathan’s writing is really good; I love his posts!

Doesn’t Disqus tell you? That’s happened to me too. 🙂
Either that or I totally missed some sarcasm… 😛

You totally missed some sarcasm. XD XD XD yeahhhhhh Taylor has been debating people on predestination vs. free will, so I figured he’d come here and see what he said in the past – and yeah it said who upvoted it. (not uprooted stupid spellcheck XD )

I was going to say that! 😉
FYI I’m about to leave, or I would have answered your other comments already.

Nope. :/ I’d really like to, but my mom says not for a few months. I don’t know if that means not until I’ve graduated, or if that’s just putting off the decision…so it’s an indefinite no. 🙁 But you can be sure I’ll join y’all as soon as I’m allowed!
Btw, wasn’t your birthday last week? 🙂

Yeah. Thanks for asking, though! 🙂 And happy belated birthday!!!

Hey Heidi! I haven’t seen you around – how are you doing?

Well, apparently it isn’t…

Good to see you again, Heidi!! =)

Oh hey, I just realized that I’ve left you hanging forever-way-back-when, too…. :/ Are you on Revive by any chance?

Thanks – you’re so sweet. 😉 And I _totally_ understand! 🙂 Have a blessed Sunday!

You’re very welcome! 🙂 And no problem, real life has to come first. I’m glad you’re doing good! And as you see, we all missed you!

And my best friend is a guy named @disqus_Y2Qrl2LEkK:disqus

tube

For a couple months, actually, but not too active. Surprise!!!

Yep! :DDD

LOL. Duck and hide!!!