Before I became Catholic, I was a total flake. I didn't have any idea what truth was, so I accepted everything that I was told. When people don't want to find the truth, they accept lies.
I watched the TV news and news shows like 20/20 and Dateline and would believe the messages that they were saying. One false thing that the media says is that there are total victims in our society-like minorities and the poor and women. When bad things happen to them, there is nothing that they can do because they are always victims oppressed by the majority and powerful.
I wasn't alone in believing that message. Many people believe that they are always victims and they can't change their circumstances. They don't work and study and blame society when they are broke. They get involved in multiple abusive relationships and blame men for their suffering. The media sends these messages to make themselves look like they care and to get more viewers. Sometimes people want to believe in lies, so the media is not always at fault. I know that I liked to hear that the irresponsible things that I did wasn't my fault.
Well, I listened and believed the media for awhile, until I realized that my life isn't going anywhere and won't go anywhere. After I was disillusioned by the media, I started searching for God. I read in the Bible that Paul said that he learned to be content with whatever life he had, even if he was poor. I wanted to be like that, so I started praying to God to help me to be content with whatever life I had. I started working and studying, rather than just saying that I was a victim. This changed my life, and I have a full-time job with a salary that I can live on comfortably.
If I would have continued to believe that I was a helpless victim, I wouldn't do anything with my life. I am so glad that I found the truth and didn't continue to believe lies that would ruin me. I hope that anyone who believes that they cannot do anything about their problems will look for God. Only God can help them find the truth that will set them free.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Jesus is a different kind of superhero
I watched Captain Planet as a kid. Really dates me, huh? Superheros amaze me. I was thinking about Captain Planet the cartoon and wondered to myself what if Jesus was a superhero.
Then I thought that Jesus is a superhero, just a different kind. Jesus is God himself in human form. He is stripped of His God-like qualities, powers, and characteristics and became a human being, like us. Jesus still had the knowledge of what God was like and he shared it with other people. Sometimes God would give him power not to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but to heal the sick and feed the hungry.
Jesus does not have a single arch villian because in a way we are all villians. We all sin and it hurts God and Jesus himself. Jesus' idea of saving the world is not defeating an arch enemy, but turning villians into heros like Him. By turning from our sins and towards the God that Jesus tells us about, we stop being villians and become heros like Jesus.
Jesus' most heoric moment was not saving thousands of people from certain death, but dying on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Because sin creates a gap between us and God and the only way to fill that gap is for someone to sacrifice His life, and Jesus sacrificed His life for us. Now we have access to God because of Jesus and God can help us stop sinning.
Unlike superheros, Jesus is accessible. If superheros existed in real life, they would never even look my direction. Jesus is available 24/7 for anyone who wants to talk to Him in heaven all you have to do is pray. Unlike comic books, you don't have to pay any money to read about his adventures. Most churches will give away Bibles for free.
Jesus does not wear skintight clothes or a cape, but dresses like everyone else, even though He is God in human form. And sorry Da Vinci code fans, but Jesus remained celebate his whole life, so He never even had a girlfriend because He wanted to devote His life to His ministry to save the world.
Have you ever thought about Jesus as a superhero? It amazes me that He is God himself in human form, but humbeled himself to die for us.
Then I thought that Jesus is a superhero, just a different kind. Jesus is God himself in human form. He is stripped of His God-like qualities, powers, and characteristics and became a human being, like us. Jesus still had the knowledge of what God was like and he shared it with other people. Sometimes God would give him power not to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but to heal the sick and feed the hungry.
Jesus does not have a single arch villian because in a way we are all villians. We all sin and it hurts God and Jesus himself. Jesus' idea of saving the world is not defeating an arch enemy, but turning villians into heros like Him. By turning from our sins and towards the God that Jesus tells us about, we stop being villians and become heros like Jesus.
Jesus' most heoric moment was not saving thousands of people from certain death, but dying on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Because sin creates a gap between us and God and the only way to fill that gap is for someone to sacrifice His life, and Jesus sacrificed His life for us. Now we have access to God because of Jesus and God can help us stop sinning.
Unlike superheros, Jesus is accessible. If superheros existed in real life, they would never even look my direction. Jesus is available 24/7 for anyone who wants to talk to Him in heaven all you have to do is pray. Unlike comic books, you don't have to pay any money to read about his adventures. Most churches will give away Bibles for free.
Jesus does not wear skintight clothes or a cape, but dresses like everyone else, even though He is God in human form. And sorry Da Vinci code fans, but Jesus remained celebate his whole life, so He never even had a girlfriend because He wanted to devote His life to His ministry to save the world.
Have you ever thought about Jesus as a superhero? It amazes me that He is God himself in human form, but humbeled himself to die for us.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Supermoralists are full of it.
You know those people who feel so great about themselves that they have to make everyone else feel like crap? You know the types. For Fundamentalist Christians, they will act like they are better than everyone else because they avoid TV and the movies because of their religous beliefs. Or on the people on the left who drive hybrids and make a show out of befriending minorities and make other people feel bad for not doing what they do. Both sets of people think that they are wonderful examples of their beliefs and think everyone should think and do as they do. You will see them debating with total strangers trying to get them to think like they do.
Their bragging always used to make me feel bad. I am a terrible Christian because I don't think that all moms should be stay-at-home moms. Maybe I don't really care about the environment because I am unwilling to spend part of my Saturday driving miles to recycle my trash. Am I a racist because I don't want to talk to one Black person. Is is racist to feel this way? Now I don't even pay attention to what they say because I have seen true goodness.
I have seen a priest give the Eucharist to a dying person. Dying people don't really matter in our society; we say that they do, but we don't really mean it. Oftentimes, I have seen nursing home residents who never recieve visitors, even during Christmas. Then this priest comes in and gives these patients a little wafer, which is supposed to be the body of Jesus. He does this wonderful thing and he is really humble about it. Rather than bragging about himself, he keeps giving and then goes on his way. Giving dying people hope did more good than recycling, befriending minorities, or avoiding Godless movies, yet this guy will never be recognized or given the credit that supermoralists are always craving.
Their bragging always used to make me feel bad. I am a terrible Christian because I don't think that all moms should be stay-at-home moms. Maybe I don't really care about the environment because I am unwilling to spend part of my Saturday driving miles to recycle my trash. Am I a racist because I don't want to talk to one Black person. Is is racist to feel this way? Now I don't even pay attention to what they say because I have seen true goodness.
I have seen a priest give the Eucharist to a dying person. Dying people don't really matter in our society; we say that they do, but we don't really mean it. Oftentimes, I have seen nursing home residents who never recieve visitors, even during Christmas. Then this priest comes in and gives these patients a little wafer, which is supposed to be the body of Jesus. He does this wonderful thing and he is really humble about it. Rather than bragging about himself, he keeps giving and then goes on his way. Giving dying people hope did more good than recycling, befriending minorities, or avoiding Godless movies, yet this guy will never be recognized or given the credit that supermoralists are always craving.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
What is faith??
I always thought that faith was optimism. When you are down to your last five dollars, you believe that you will not always be broke. Sometimes that is good, when there is hope. Sometimes you have to accept that your unfortunate situation won't change. Someone who is disabled permanately must accept his or her disability. Someone who is dying must accept that he or she is going to die. How can people who have faith when their situation is hopeless?
When I heard that someone was sick, I used to pray that they would get better and have their health fully restored. Sometimes people would get better, but most of the time they would still die. I thought that my prayers were useless, then I studied Catholicism.
I learned that everyone in this life will go through some sort of pain, even if it is only the pain of dying. Because sin has corrupted this world, people suffer and that means we all will die someday. God will comfort and help everyone who turns to Him when they are suffering. God won't always take away their suffering, but He will help them through it. When I pray for someone who is suffering, I should pray that he or she will be open to God's help and that he or she will turn to God to comfort him or her.
There is this person that I know who went through this. He wasn't dying, but he had to deal with disappointment. He really wanted a position in his job, and he was given a chance in that position and he did really badly. He was given another position in his job, which he didn't like. He was really disappointed, and I prayed for that he could accept God's prescence in his life in his new position. I really admire this guy. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he does his new job with enthusiasm and gusto. He didn't turn his back on God or lose his faith, he kept on praying. Most importantly, he has a new understanding of God. God won't give Him everything that he wants, but He will be there to help him deal with disappointments at not getting what he wants. This guy tells everyone about his new understanding of God.
The reason why many people lose their faith, including me, is because they don't understand what faith really is. It isn't having blind optimism or a positive attitude all the time. Real faith is know that God is there and He cares when you are suffering. I hope that when I suffer, I will turn to God and keep praying and ask God to help me through it.
When I heard that someone was sick, I used to pray that they would get better and have their health fully restored. Sometimes people would get better, but most of the time they would still die. I thought that my prayers were useless, then I studied Catholicism.
I learned that everyone in this life will go through some sort of pain, even if it is only the pain of dying. Because sin has corrupted this world, people suffer and that means we all will die someday. God will comfort and help everyone who turns to Him when they are suffering. God won't always take away their suffering, but He will help them through it. When I pray for someone who is suffering, I should pray that he or she will be open to God's help and that he or she will turn to God to comfort him or her.
There is this person that I know who went through this. He wasn't dying, but he had to deal with disappointment. He really wanted a position in his job, and he was given a chance in that position and he did really badly. He was given another position in his job, which he didn't like. He was really disappointed, and I prayed for that he could accept God's prescence in his life in his new position. I really admire this guy. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he does his new job with enthusiasm and gusto. He didn't turn his back on God or lose his faith, he kept on praying. Most importantly, he has a new understanding of God. God won't give Him everything that he wants, but He will be there to help him deal with disappointments at not getting what he wants. This guy tells everyone about his new understanding of God.
The reason why many people lose their faith, including me, is because they don't understand what faith really is. It isn't having blind optimism or a positive attitude all the time. Real faith is know that God is there and He cares when you are suffering. I hope that when I suffer, I will turn to God and keep praying and ask God to help me through it.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
God seeking adventures
I never thought that I would ever believe and have faith in God. I can't believe that I believe. I read the Bible when I was a kid, and I loved it! The thing was that I didn't see God in real life, so I couldn't believe.
When I was an adult, I would go to church for awhile and stop because I just couldn't find what I was looking for there. At my last church, I prayed to God that he would lead me to the church he wanted me to go. Then I ran across this priest's blog, and he totally amazed me. He mentioned that he was engaged to a woman, but broke up with her because he felt that God was calling him to be a priest. My previous church was really into Focus on the Family, and this kind of thing was unheard of. Then people would send the priest these nasty e-mails (I know this because he posted these things on his blog) and would answer those hateful people's questions respectfully. This priest seemed to really love his enemies.
Well, I have never tried the Catholic Church because all of the churches that I attended said that Catholics weren't really Christians. In many of my previous churches, there were many former Catholics who attended and they warned me about the evils of the Catholic Church. They couldn't understand why I was studying Catholicism. When I told them I was leaving that church for the Catholic church, they said things like they would pray for me or I should talk to the pastor before I leave. They showed me more love when I was leaving than than they did the whole three years that I attended.
Then I bought all of these books on Catholicism. When I bought them, the lady who was ringing up my bill said that it was OK to read about Catholicism, but not OK to believe in it. Then there was my former co-worker who warned me that Catholics really aren't saved and I was in danger of going to hell. Then there is my mom who told me that none of those priests are celibate and said that they would try to seduce me (that hasn't happened but I have already come up with a mean response when it does).
You would think that all of these setbacks would keep me from seeking God, but no, I am more determined than ever to find Him. I am more than a God seeker, I am a God stalker.
PS-I saw that eight people have read my blog. I didn't know think that anyone was reading my blog. Anyway, my e-mail address is gclaheh@hotmail.com, if you want to contact me.
When I was an adult, I would go to church for awhile and stop because I just couldn't find what I was looking for there. At my last church, I prayed to God that he would lead me to the church he wanted me to go. Then I ran across this priest's blog, and he totally amazed me. He mentioned that he was engaged to a woman, but broke up with her because he felt that God was calling him to be a priest. My previous church was really into Focus on the Family, and this kind of thing was unheard of. Then people would send the priest these nasty e-mails (I know this because he posted these things on his blog) and would answer those hateful people's questions respectfully. This priest seemed to really love his enemies.
Well, I have never tried the Catholic Church because all of the churches that I attended said that Catholics weren't really Christians. In many of my previous churches, there were many former Catholics who attended and they warned me about the evils of the Catholic Church. They couldn't understand why I was studying Catholicism. When I told them I was leaving that church for the Catholic church, they said things like they would pray for me or I should talk to the pastor before I leave. They showed me more love when I was leaving than than they did the whole three years that I attended.
Then I bought all of these books on Catholicism. When I bought them, the lady who was ringing up my bill said that it was OK to read about Catholicism, but not OK to believe in it. Then there was my former co-worker who warned me that Catholics really aren't saved and I was in danger of going to hell. Then there is my mom who told me that none of those priests are celibate and said that they would try to seduce me (that hasn't happened but I have already come up with a mean response when it does).
You would think that all of these setbacks would keep me from seeking God, but no, I am more determined than ever to find Him. I am more than a God seeker, I am a God stalker.
PS-I saw that eight people have read my blog. I didn't know think that anyone was reading my blog. Anyway, my e-mail address is gclaheh@hotmail.com, if you want to contact me.
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