Sometime this year I'm moving to Japan, Misawa. I'll be there 4 years. I could have stayed in the states, but Mike would still have had to go for 3 years. Personally I'd rather spend 4 years with Mike then 3 years without!
Anyway, moving to Japan is good. I've always wanted to go there. I hear the food is awesome! Plus, I'd love to really experiance a different culture and learn a different language.
It's interesting to me that some people would find moving to Japan (or another country) a horrendous thing. To me it's an adventure! Since I don't have any friends of my own here, I'm really losing nothing by moving.
One of my [online] friends asked me if I'd be homesick. You know, I'd never thought about it? When I moved away from my family I wasn't really homesick. I'll mostly miss the area here, and maybe some of conviences. But honestly, I have no one to really miss.
I think I must live a very sad life to be able to say that. :-/
When I move to Japan, I want to be a "good American". We're so often known for being arrogent and stupid. I want to be the type of person who gives a good first impression.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Rant rant rant!
Ah, it bugs me when people lump all non-denominational churches together! I went to one for 12 years, and they were very conservative. In fact, there were three other sister churches who were very similiar. No fish-flopping on the floor. No repeatitive "new" songs. No big band musicals. No shallow sermons.
The thing is you should never EVER generalize non-denominational churches. Why? Because they are each different. In my home town you had charasmatic non-denominational churches next to very traditional conservative ones. They were TOTALLY different!
Agh, I'm so annoyed! If you have been part of a denomination all your life, do yourself a favor: don't make an ASS out of yourself by ASSUMING you know what all non-denominational churches are like. You don't. And when you act like you to, it makes you look stupid.
Let's repeat: Non-denominational churches are not like denominational churches. They have no "code" to adhere to. Therefore, one can be uber conservative, while the next one can be uber liberal.
Have I repeated this enough that you understand? Please, for the love of unity, don't go around making non-denominational churches out to be evil and anti-scriptual! They aren't.
GRA! ARG! FRRUUURG! *makes many more frustrated noises*
Now I'm done. ~_~;
The thing is you should never EVER generalize non-denominational churches. Why? Because they are each different. In my home town you had charasmatic non-denominational churches next to very traditional conservative ones. They were TOTALLY different!
Agh, I'm so annoyed! If you have been part of a denomination all your life, do yourself a favor: don't make an ASS out of yourself by ASSUMING you know what all non-denominational churches are like. You don't. And when you act like you to, it makes you look stupid.
Let's repeat: Non-denominational churches are not like denominational churches. They have no "code" to adhere to. Therefore, one can be uber conservative, while the next one can be uber liberal.
Have I repeated this enough that you understand? Please, for the love of unity, don't go around making non-denominational churches out to be evil and anti-scriptual! They aren't.
GRA! ARG! FRRUUURG! *makes many more frustrated noises*
Now I'm done. ~_~;
Monday, March 07, 2005
TO END ALL WARS
I watched "To End All Wars" yesterday. It's a WW2 movie about the Japanese POW camps. It was incredibly moving and (I think) very well done. Every Christian (who is teen age and older) should watch this film! It's gritty, dirty, has bad words (one of which my Scottish friend told me NEVER to repeat again in public), has seriously injured people, and has the strongest message of forgiveness that I have ever seen in a film. (For all you anime lovers, this film gives an interesting insight to how Japanese people [use to] think.)
Perhaps one of the more interesting things to watch was the "Making of" on this film. They used well-known Japanese actors to play the wardens of the POW camps. It was interesting listening to these Japanese actors explain why they decided to play in a film that portrayed thier country in a less than positive light. One of them said that they had hoped this film would educated the generations of Japanese people who came after the war. Apparently these POW camps were swept under the rug by the government and even out right denied that they ever existed. So there are generations of Japanese who don't know what they government was doing during WW2.
Like I said, there were strong themes of forgiveness. This is not the pansy forgiveness you get now from feel-good Christianity, or the weak pointless forgiveness of New Age religions. This is strong solid forgiveness that makes you weep because you can't believe that it happened. But it did happen, because this stuff isn't made up. Someone really went through all that and someone really forgave it all.
I did weep. I wept like a baby. But how could I not weep? The weakness and strength of those men are my own! It touched me so deeply.
And I guess that's why this film really never made a big splash. Who wants to watch a film that makes you think? Who wants to watch a film that makes your heart ache in guilt? Who wants to watch a movie about the most pure form of forgiveness shown to man? Certainly not the people of this nation!
What a world I live in! That I should know people who would not care or understand the message of this film. It would go right over their heads, and they would not even know enough to be ashamed of themselves. What a sad, pointless, and cruel world I live in. God help us all for our spiritual negligance.
So, yes, see this film. It's not for children, but it's good for everyone else. I hope it touches your heart the way it did mine.
Perhaps one of the more interesting things to watch was the "Making of" on this film. They used well-known Japanese actors to play the wardens of the POW camps. It was interesting listening to these Japanese actors explain why they decided to play in a film that portrayed thier country in a less than positive light. One of them said that they had hoped this film would educated the generations of Japanese people who came after the war. Apparently these POW camps were swept under the rug by the government and even out right denied that they ever existed. So there are generations of Japanese who don't know what they government was doing during WW2.
Like I said, there were strong themes of forgiveness. This is not the pansy forgiveness you get now from feel-good Christianity, or the weak pointless forgiveness of New Age religions. This is strong solid forgiveness that makes you weep because you can't believe that it happened. But it did happen, because this stuff isn't made up. Someone really went through all that and someone really forgave it all.
I did weep. I wept like a baby. But how could I not weep? The weakness and strength of those men are my own! It touched me so deeply.
And I guess that's why this film really never made a big splash. Who wants to watch a film that makes you think? Who wants to watch a film that makes your heart ache in guilt? Who wants to watch a movie about the most pure form of forgiveness shown to man? Certainly not the people of this nation!
What a world I live in! That I should know people who would not care or understand the message of this film. It would go right over their heads, and they would not even know enough to be ashamed of themselves. What a sad, pointless, and cruel world I live in. God help us all for our spiritual negligance.
So, yes, see this film. It's not for children, but it's good for everyone else. I hope it touches your heart the way it did mine.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
I'm more than the color of red or blue! So are you!
Something that has been irritating me lately is this language of "us" and "them". It's not so much the words that bother me, as the extreme generalization that they create.
How is it that both "sides" can get away with the horrendous personal attacks that they do? How is it fair to say all conservatives are intolerant or homophobes or whatever when it's very unlikely the person saying that has every MET all conservatives? And how can conservatives claim that all liberals are anti-American, murderers, or intolerant or whatever? Have conservatives somehow talked to EVERY SINGLE liberal out there?
No. Neither side has. Yet they keep assuming they know ALL about each other. From where I'm standing, neither side knows--or wants to know--anything about the other AT ALL.
And I'm not talking about accepting their view points. I'm talking about learning what their view points REALLY ARE. Not what the news says they are, not what Hollywood says they are,--not even what colleges say they are--but what the "LITTLE PEOPLE" say they are.
Lets face it, we're all letting the elitests in the News and Hollywood tell us what to think about each other! Why are we doing that? Why can't we simply use our brains instead, think of intelligent debates, without resorting to personal attacks? Or have both sides fallen so far that they've forgotten it's not about proving yourself RIGHT, it's about finding the TRUTH.
And if you really want to find the truth, then you'll stop arguing, and start DEBATING. And maybe by doing so YOU'LL CHANGE FOR THE BETTER!
But God help us, we don't want that. Liberal or conservative, they both want to stay tucked away in their own little worlds where they're comfortable and safe.
Sure, you go ahead. Blind fold yourselves, stuff your ears with cotton, and scream as loud as you want. You're not doing any good. Not for the poor, not for the needy, not for the widows. You're all just obsessed with being right.
Shame on you! Shame on all of you!
If you want to debate ideals, ethics, morals, do so! But do it civilly. Do it like the person you're talking to is a real-live human being made in God's image! Is that so much to ask?
Maybe it is.
I'm a conservative. I'm begging my fellow conservatives not to stoop to this level of personal attacks and pointless arguments! And liberals, I beg you too!
Can't we all just shut up for a moment and appreciate each other for the people we are? There's more to life than politics. There's... you know... life.
How is it that both "sides" can get away with the horrendous personal attacks that they do? How is it fair to say all conservatives are intolerant or homophobes or whatever when it's very unlikely the person saying that has every MET all conservatives? And how can conservatives claim that all liberals are anti-American, murderers, or intolerant or whatever? Have conservatives somehow talked to EVERY SINGLE liberal out there?
No. Neither side has. Yet they keep assuming they know ALL about each other. From where I'm standing, neither side knows--or wants to know--anything about the other AT ALL.
And I'm not talking about accepting their view points. I'm talking about learning what their view points REALLY ARE. Not what the news says they are, not what Hollywood says they are,--not even what colleges say they are--but what the "LITTLE PEOPLE" say they are.
Lets face it, we're all letting the elitests in the News and Hollywood tell us what to think about each other! Why are we doing that? Why can't we simply use our brains instead, think of intelligent debates, without resorting to personal attacks? Or have both sides fallen so far that they've forgotten it's not about proving yourself RIGHT, it's about finding the TRUTH.
And if you really want to find the truth, then you'll stop arguing, and start DEBATING. And maybe by doing so YOU'LL CHANGE FOR THE BETTER!
But God help us, we don't want that. Liberal or conservative, they both want to stay tucked away in their own little worlds where they're comfortable and safe.
Sure, you go ahead. Blind fold yourselves, stuff your ears with cotton, and scream as loud as you want. You're not doing any good. Not for the poor, not for the needy, not for the widows. You're all just obsessed with being right.
Shame on you! Shame on all of you!
If you want to debate ideals, ethics, morals, do so! But do it civilly. Do it like the person you're talking to is a real-live human being made in God's image! Is that so much to ask?
Maybe it is.
I'm a conservative. I'm begging my fellow conservatives not to stoop to this level of personal attacks and pointless arguments! And liberals, I beg you too!
Can't we all just shut up for a moment and appreciate each other for the people we are? There's more to life than politics. There's... you know... life.
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