Ariah's thoughts

Visit Trying to Follow

2007-07-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

For those who stumble across this page, I felt it was important to let you know that my regular posting occurs here:

Trying to Follow

2006-10-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

SRI and Soulforce

2006-03-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

download here.

adria interview

2006-02-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

interview

For those who are subscribed here.

2006-02-18T01:01:00.000-08:00

Hi, this is Ariah. I wanted to let you know a little about the RSS feed you are currently subscribed to. This site http://ariah.blogspot.com is mostly my testing ground and scratchpad for personal use.
If your really interested in subscribing to my podcast and writings, I would suggest you look over at http://blog.iamnotashamed.net that is where my regular writing happens.
If you are currently subscribed to my RSS feed here might I recommend you join this feed instead?
Subscribe to Trying to follow

I will leave the current feedburner feed directed to this site, but I'd STRONGLY encourage you to switch over.

Thanks!

Pacifism

2006-02-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

pacifism

interview with peter

2006-02-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

peter interview

Zach annoyed at open office

2006-02-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Zach annoyed at open office.

Tackling Bible Translation

2006-02-05T21:59:00.000-08:00

Zach and Ariah on Bible Translation

Interview

2006-01-31T14:22:00.000-08:00

Interview with Eric of Justice Clothing

Test post

2006-01-31T00:16:00.000-08:00

I had the wonderful opportunity this morning of interviewing Eric Odier-Fink of The Justice Clothing Company. Eric graciously gave me a bit of his time to answer some questions about Justice Clothing, Sweatshops, Unions and Fair Trade.

Show Notes:

00:24 Why did you start The Justice Clothing Company?

"It really started out of Frustration."

The idea for the Justice Clothing Company was born around 1996 when we met and, among other things, began shopping together. (from the website)

"The US is predominately sweatshop in it's apparel production."

1998- Received Catalogs from Union companies (King Louie clothing, Nemisis and Windjammers)

"Is there Anywhere in the United States for me to buy your gear?"

"These where companies that where absolutely clean."

03:15 Working with Union Companies

"We only work with Union Companies"

Trying to work with Non-Union

Ben and Jerry's as a Non-Union example

Non-Union companies weren't willing to meet their conditions

06:30 Talking about American Apparel

Attempted to work with American-Apparel

American-Apparel's Ugly Union busting Article

AA's Sexist and Sexual Harassment

American Apparel makes clothes, Justice Clothing sells clothes (that union companies make).

11:00 The importance of Unions

"Unions are the only thing responsible for prosperity in the United States."

"Unions bring together workers who, individually, don't really have any power."

"The only power a worker has, is to stop the work that they do."

Eric tells the story of his grandfather being almost "worked to death."

Why Unions improve companies and the quality of products.

14:45 Justice Clothing becoming a Cooperative

No longer "Employer, employees."

Expanding to others outside the business

A few "not really for the radio" details about the Co-op.

18:15 Dealing with your overwhelming closet full of sweatshop clothing

Don't be overwhelmed

Find places (like Justice Clothing) where you can shop Sweatshop-Free, and Buy a few things.

Enjoy it and buy some more.

22:45 What's your take on Thrift Stores

Usually fronts for organizations that feed and cloth people

It's Recycling!

It's not contributing to the sweatshop industry

The Balance is that people need to work and somethings will need to be bought new, That's where Justice Clothing comes in.

26:00 Why pay more Money for fair trade clothing?

Sustainable economies

Why Not to Contribute to Walmart (articles 1, 2)

29:45 An appeal to people of Faith

"Buying sweatshop stuff is against my religion"

"You know your buying stuff that is moral"

2006-01-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

Where I REALLY post

2006-01-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

For all those who have stopped by here because I posted on your site and I had to do it with a blogger account, here is a link to where I REALLY post:

blog.iamnotashamed.net
xanga.com/bfine107

enjoy.

Performancing for Firefox

2005-12-22T23:22:00.000-08:00

This is my first post from my cool new tool Performancing.
Basically I'm writing in the bottom half of my firefox browser, like this:

What is so great about this is it makes it easy to blog about something from another website and easily view what you are writing and cut and paste as necessary. It works for a number of different blogs so you might want to try it out.

[performancing] via Lifehacker

testing the blogspot email posting abilites

2005-12-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

how does this look?

Conversation with David about Restaurants

2005-11-18T14:55:00.000-08:00

about restaurants

2005-11-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

2005-11-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

2005-11-09T05:38:00.000-08:00

Buy Nothing Day.

2005-11-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

A decent take about Buy Nothing Day.

Bad take about Buy Nothing Day

2005-11-08T06:14:00.000-08:00

Trying to talk on the fly is really hard.

2005-11-08T06:10:00.000-08:00

Ariah giving some tips to Odeo.

Add a ALL comments RSS for creators!

and some more detailed stats.

random talk from ariah fine

2005-11-08T06:07:00.000-08:00

just random thoughts.

Mindy joins me.

2005-11-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

Random talk from Ariah and his lovely wife, Mindy.

odeo

2005-11-06T17:03:00.000-08:00

I'm in.

Ariah and Nate talk

My Odeo Channel (odeo/436b33443318342d)

video

2005-11-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

Click here to watch 'Home-with-the-Fines'

The forum wall at Wheaton

2005-11-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

Still talking about other people's xangas...

What the forum wall is about at Wheaton,

xanga friends update

2005-11-03T05:12:00.000-08:00

xanga what it is and why I use it.

about my friends xanga post.

thoughts on audioblogger.com and odeo

2005-11-03T05:06:00.000-08:00

Critiques of Audioblogger:

-If your calling from your primary number you shouldn't have to type it in.

-The automated number receiver keeps on recording my number wrong (counting a number twice when I only pressed it once).

-Sound is bad (probably my phone).

-stop automatically posting!!!!

(And I learned I can only record five minutes).

How to do a phone podcast:

1. open a blogger.com blog
2. sign up at audioblogger.com
3. call in your podcast.

that's it my friends.

What I listen to...and my inbox

2005-11-03T04:16:00.000-08:00

Finishing what I've listenED to:

Bored-Again Christian, mostly music, not to fun. But the guy and his wife do a great podcast called Illinoise.

The Christian and the Athiest- again okay, but not enthralling.

No good Christian Podcast!

2005-11-03T04:12:00.000-08:00

SORRY, THIS PODCAST DIDN'T come out, it was all jumbled.

Haven't found any good Christian podcast.

-some I listen to, that are sermons: Piper, Boyd, Rob Bell, xxxchurch

-and then I got cut off, again!

Why I'm podcasting.

2005-11-02T06:15:00.000-08:00

Listening to yourself talk helps you talk better. That's I think the main reason I'm doing this. I teach for a living now, and I could use to improve that a bit. So for my friends and others who are willing to give me some feedback, I'd appreciate some. I want to be a better, more interesting public speaker.

I hope you folks are enjoying the podcast.

Finishing Wikipedia, Linux live CD, mumblings

2005-11-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

Audio Notes:

-Back from getting cutoff, talking about Wikipedia again.

-Gonna make a linux live CD. (Warning: computer geeks only)

-Mumblings.

In the news: Paris Riots, The Crash Project, and Wikipedia

2005-11-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

Audio Notes:
-Brief thoughts on the Riots in Paris.

-A plug for The Crash Project: thecrashproject.blogspot.com

-What is wikipedia?

-And then I got cut off.

My first Audio Blog

2005-11-01T04:22:00.000-08:00

2005-02-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

What would it take?

I need help with this one. Most of us seniors received our first issue of the Wheaton Alumni magazine. In it an article titled “Defining Success,” interviewed four Wheaton Alum, one of which worked at Walmart and another that worked at Coca-Cola. They both seemed like wonderful, godly and wise people, and I even resonated with much of what they had to say. Many of us as students are appreciative of their work, as we our regular consumers of the products they provide. At the same time, I'm struck by the fact that in my only recent awakening to social injustice in the world, these two companies are consistently noted as the worst violators of human rights. And so I wonder, what would it take for you and me to begin to question what statement we make with our dollars.

I struggle often with how we as Christians are to live out our faith on a daily basis. I struggle with feeling like we don't really care enough to make any real changes in our lives. I'm not talking about being a card carrying full-time advocate for every cause under the sun, rather I'm wondering how we live our daily lives in a way that promotes the values and causes we believe in.

At this point I could throw out some facts about Walmart or Coke hoping to convince you to boycott them, but this is not the place for that. Rather I'd like to try and address three responses I have commonly heard regarding human rights and our purchasing choices.

I've never heard any really solid evidence against these companies or others.

Honestly, I think it's probably because you haven't been looking. In the past Walmart has been criticized in Reuters, USA Today, the New York Times, and the Associated Press multiple times. There is a wealth of resources to look at that give concise and reputable information about big companies. A great website to find these news articles concerning Walmart and other companies is: responsibleshopper.org. The truth is most of us have read at least one article concerning a company's human rights problems, and we failed to take any action in response to it. You won't find these issues on the front page, or on the regular nightly news, but as Christians we are called to care about human rights. We must be willing to seek this information; we cannot remain ignorant or apathetic.

Yeah, but every company is going to have something wrong with it, there all bad on some level.

Sadly, this might be true, but that doesn't allow us simply not to address the issue. For the past few years Walmart has stood uncontested in two categories: the top of the Fortune 500 and one of the worst human rights violating companies in the world. Each year Walmart's human rights violations are exposed, and each year we continue to shop there. We make the statement that we care more about cheap prices than we do about human rights. We send a message each time we spend our money somewhere. What message will you send? I see two healthy options. One, we can search out those companies that are striving for fair trade and concerned about human rights and support them. This will show other consumers and sellers that we care about human rights. Two, when we become aware of a human rights violation by a company, we stop shopping there. If we continue to shop there we support the human rights violations that are occuring.

But what I do with my money won't make a difference. If your hoping to see all human injustice end based on your purchasing decisions you might be dissappointed. But all change must begin somewhere. As a Christian I cannot support injustice. Out of the overflow of Christ love, I care for the well being of the orphan and the widow. When the company I buy products from regularly does not care for the well being of the orphan and the widow, I must not participate. What you do with your money makes a statement about what you value, not just in what you purchase, but the labor and ethics that went into making it. We must strive to live our daily lives in a way that promotes the values and causes we believe in.

This is my fear: that many Wheaton students will read this and do nothing. I beg of you to not let this be the case. I leave you with these words: "The greatest single cause of athiesm in the world today, is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle"

2005-01-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

Already Forgotten

It's Friday now, five days after the aniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, and like many of us, besides rejoicing that it's only a four day week, you have not given his legacy a second thought. If upon reflecting on King and his legacy, you only naively rejoiced that his "dream" has been accomplished, but did not weep at the complacency of, We, the Church in carrying out the work that Dr. King, in Christ, called us to; to bring Justice for the poor and oppressed, you are deceived.
The more I have learned about Dr. King the more I am shocked and dissappointed at the lack of attention we give to this great hero of the Christian faith. Wheaton College, a school founded by abolitionists should know well the importance of standing up against injustice and for freedom. Dr. King stood bold as a Christian against the injustice of his day and we need to be challenged by this modern prophet of Christ to do the same.
It's a wonderful thing to see that every year hundreds of students at Wheaton participate in ministries through CSC and their churches. Many of the ministries involve working with youth anywhere from near by Carol Stream to the city of Chicago. These sorts of ministries are tangible ways many students find to share the love of Christ with others. But this alone is inefficient and insufficient. We must not forget King's example and stand against the systems that are persisting
You might have heard this story before. There was a community that built a school on the edge of a cliff. Upon discovering that a number of students where injured seriously from falling off the cliff, the community decided to build a emergency room at the bottom of the cliff. Though this did help care for the situation, it was reactive toward the outcome of the problem and did not deal with the root. Why did they not build a fence?!
Dr. King stood against the injustice of the Jim Crow laws and the segregated education system because he was compelled by the love of Christ. We too must stand against those structural sins in our society. I challenge every student involved in ministries to youth to become aware of the structural evils that we are a part of in our society. When a child receives an unequal education simply due to their location in an impoverished neighborhood, this is a structural evil. When your attempt to explain to that child the victories of Brown vs. Board in desegregation are in vain because every child in his classroom is of similar complexion, this is a structural evil. King once said, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” Please deepen your understanding and act.
We are called to love our neighbor as ourself. This command requires far more then the few hours or minutes we tend to give it each day, indeed, in the words of King, “The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others."

2004-11-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

The Federal Marriage Amendment Article.

(This is what I wrote for the Wheaton College school Newspaper concerning the FMA and the stuff on campus concerning it, visit wheatondiscussion.info for more info on that).

How do we truly love our neighbor? If I may contextualize a bit: Jesus says do as the homosexual prostitute did when he, not judging or condemning, had compassion and cared for the needs of the Wheaton student who had been left for dead in the alley outside of the ministry she worked at, even after another Wheaton student and a pastor drove by. (LUKE 10:30-37).
Some in our community feel that this is best done by supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, I’m fearful of that action. I am neither the person, nor a Record article the place to sway your decision on the Federal Marriage Amendment. I will say that we must be very clear that the FMA is NOT a stand against homosexuality as sin, but a political statement concerning the rights of those already practicing homosexuality. My words here are only to voice a concern over the message that Student Government and the Wheaton College student body will send to the world if we COLLECTIVELY support this amendment. This is not a definitive statement, only a few thoughts.
Jesus' public condemnations where almost always directed to the Religious authorities within the religious community that he was a part of. In the early church we see most rebuking and moral standards being dealt with within the church, not to non-Christians. Paul even says, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?" (I Cor. 5:12)
This FMA Statement will define our community for years to come, especially if the news world catches wind of it. When we go to do ministries the question will not be about whether we are allowed to dance, but why do we dislike homosexuals so much?
How did Jesus address the idea of using physical punishment to uphold morality? He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone." (Jn. 8:7) We are not to use the law is a means to force adherence to our moral standards. You want to love your neighbor who is a homosexual? Go hang out with them, be with them. Work with Emmaus ministries on CSC, sit at the bedside of someone dying of AIDs whose family has disowned him or her. That is where you can share Christ love.
Before we try and take the speck out of others eyes (and I think by “brothers” Jesus meant other believers), have we made sure there is not a plank in our own? I’m not sure exactly how we go about doing that but I have some ideas of statements that we could make to the greater community that would at least be a step in that direction.
I have two suggestions for possible proposals and resolutions that I think we can as a college campus collectively pass and send to every major organization that is fighting for gay rights. First as it relates to the support of marriage. I think we can be humble and admit that Christians have not been a very good example of sanctity of marriage. We can let the world know that we know that we too are sinners and fail to live up to God’s ideals. We can explain to others that God is and will forever be the one who has defined marriage, and no matter what we the church or the rest of the world does we cannot change that. And we can commit to being an example in years to come of what true marriage is, as a union before God.
The second statement I think we can make, relates to the homosexual people who this impacts. We, the church, have been a horrible example of Christ love to the homosexual community for years. Christ would have sat by the bedside of dying homosexuals in the height of AIDs in this country, yet we stood outside with signs saying they would burn in hell (or we passively stood by while those statements where made). We can beg forgiveness from the homosexual community for the hurt and hatred that has been dealt to them by members of the Christian community. We can commit to spending much more time personally showing and spreading the love of Christ in genuine ways to people who practice homosexuality.
Unity in the body of Christ is an absolute priority in scripture and should be on this campus. How do we bring that unity amidst such differences on an issue like the FMA, which is not a simple Biblical issue? Shall we divide our community by making collective statements that misrepresent those in our community? I pray not. Let us dialogue together and pray together. "And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Phil 3:15-16)
If you believe it is best and most loving to support the FMA, then I pray you are doing equally as much to assure the that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons know the love of Christ. Please don't make a statement supporting the FMA on my behalf. To those who support the FMA, please feel free to collect 1800 signatures of students who support the FMA, but please don't outcast me from the community by making collective statements. How will I remain in this community? How will I tell my homosexual friend that I chose to remain a part of a community that was making collective statements that to her carry such hate? Lord help me.

2004-10-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Love your Enemies
(or Who Tore down that sign on the Forum Wall?)

I very much enjoy checking out the forum wall in CPO. It's great to see the freedom we have in this community to speak freely about all sorts of things, from politics, to relationships, to our Christian calling. Last week I saw a new sign on the forum wall; A couple hours later I saw that sign had been ripped down. The next day I saw it reposted, and again a few hours later I saw it torn down. Why would someone censor or limit free speech on this campus? Well this is roughly what the sign had said:

Mohamed Atta
A loved one who lost his life on 9/11
Pray that his family and friends would come to know Christ as their savior.
Matthew 5:43-47

In case you do not know, Mohamed Atta was one of the men involved in crashing the planes into the towers on 9/11. If there is a person most citizens of the United States would consider an enemy, he would be it. In addition, Matthew 5:43-47 is Jesus' sermon on the mount when he says, "Love your enemies."
I do not presume that the majority of students on this campus would have torn down that sign, but I saw a handful walk past it shaking their heads. It seems to me that there is not love in our hearts, but rather indifference, disgust or worse, hate. Hatred is an ugly thing. I know because I've seen hatred in my own life, and when I really look at it and face it, I see nothing of Christ in it. Regardless of how deserving I think the victim of my hate is. On a Christian campus I am distrought by the lack of effort to carry out Christ commands to love our enemies.
I am not against ROTC, I know of many committed brothers and sisters in the faith who are among the ranks, and I have a deep respect for them. Yet, I wonder, how do you love your enemy at the end of your gun barrel? I'm not trying to simplify, or begin a war vs. pacifism argument, but I do think this calling of Christ to "love our enemies" needs to be wrestled with on campus. What are we doing in this community to remind ourselves, and especially the military recruits among us, that Jesus calls us to love our enemies?
Each chapel time we pray as a community. Primarily, we pray for needs and concerns of this immediate community, but often we also pray for a few pressing issues in our world. I do not think they are illigitimate prayers when we ask for guidance and wisdom for the our troops and our leaders, and I am grateful that we have as a pray request the well being of the Iraqi people. Rarely, if ever, do we lift up prayers for those rebel soldiers, the ones we consider the enemy, who are daily killing Iraqi civilians and US soldiers. Yet, Jesus demands it! He says pray for them! And you know in your own heart who you have decleared enemies.
Chapel and ROTC are not my concern though, I only speak about them to share where my struggle comes from. My concern, my fear, my distraught, is in what was meant by tearing down that sign on the forum wall. Does it make us uncomfortable that Jesus said to love and pray for Mohamed Atta? Are we know different then the rest of the world and this country who want nothing but death and destruction for Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Ladin and the rest of those our country is fighting against? You know in your own heart how you feel about those men, and about what happened on 9/11. Those are real feelings and I'm not asking you to ignore them, rather the scripture compels us to wrestle with them. Would you have torn down that sign? Does hatred or anger, sadness or frustration at the situation boil so deeply in you?
What sets us apart from the rest of the world? Is it not Christ love? On a normal week, even year, at Wheaton you are not likely to come in contact with someone you might be tempted to hate. But, when just the image of one we consider evil is put in our midst, it does not last the hour. Why the hatred? Where is the love? I'll leave you with the words of Christ:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?"

2004-10-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

So I notice people don't really post comments on my blog here. Maybe I'm just too serious for folks. Well, I decided to jump on the Xanga bandwagon and started a blog over there. I'll keep this one for the more serious post, stuff that gets published in the school Newspaper and what not. But for the daily dose hop on over to this link.

peace.

2004-10-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

CRISIS IN SUDAN
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101041004/

You need to click on the link above and take a photo tour of what is going on in the Sudan.

If you want to take action use the 800 number from my previous post and call your congressman, senators and the president and tell them that we need to be concerned about the situation in Sudan.

2004-09-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

TAKE ACTION NOW!

So, I've learned a lot about international debt relief and the stuff is just shocking. It's probably the thing that has gotten me more political then anything else. I'd explain more, but that will be for another time (actually I post a speech I wrote on it for my summer school class). For now though I thought I'd start by helping everyone take one (maybe two) small steps towards getting politically active. The first is this link:
http://www.debtireland.org/
I won't explain much it's pretty in depth, but the idea is basically to send an e-card to the World Bank and IMF (you'll learn) and let them know that the debt they are holding over poor countries is wrong and bad.

Number two, is this: There is this thing called the Millenium challenge. The rich countries got together (the US is a big one) and decided that in the new millenium we should help the poorest countries (not with oppressive debt like we did the last few decades- See the documentary Life + Debt if you want to learn a little). So the US had commited to giving 2.5 Billion, then it got cut to 1.25, not it might be 1.1 billion. So we are telling folks to call the white house and let them know we should give at least 1.25 billion. Here is the full email below:

We need your help! Lifesaving effort to fight global poverty in danger!

America’s Millennium Challenge to fight global poverty and corruption is in danger. Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to cut requested funding by more than 50%.

YOU can help to save the Millennium Challenge!

America’s Millennium Challenge is an historic initiative to help the poorest countries fight poverty and corruption. It rewards democratic countries that use their own resources to fight poverty, and demonstrate a commitment to fighting corruption. Support for anti poverty programs such as this also helps the fight against AIDS because AIDS thrives in conditions of extreme poverty.

Unfortunately, two years after announcing this initiative, the Bush Administration has failed to get it fully up and running and fight for full funding. Because of this inaction, the House of Representatives cut Millennium Challenge funding in half. Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee cut even further.

Announcing the Millennium Challenge in 2002, President Bush said there are no second-class citizens in the human race, and he "carries this commitment in my soul."

Now it’s up to you to tell President Bush to live up to his commitment and save the Millennium Challenge.

Call 1-877-HOPE-USA (1-877-467-3872)

to be connected directly to the White House.

Tell President Bush you support the lifesaving Millennium Challenge.

For more information about the Millennium Challenge and what to say when you call, please click here.

Act now and lend your voice to the fight against global AIDS and poverty.

This message brought to you by DATA, a member of the ONE campaign

2004-09-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know people have all kinds of opinions about the war in Iraq, and I'm not going to go into mine right now. I did want to say this though, as we remembered recently the death of the 1000th US soldier in Iraq.

Thousands have died in that war that were not soldiers of either side, they were civilians, women, children, the elderly. You might still support the war, but we must face the realities that War in this day is also a war against civilians. I'll find the facts and post them here later (Check out Howard Zinn's A People's History of The United States of America, that book will knock your socks off).

For now though I wanted to point folks to a website called www.iraqbodycount.org I guess people think the numbers aren't accurate, or are at least skewed. And others argue that this needs to be seen in the light of the hundreds that were dying at the hand of Saddam Hussein. I realize all that and I'm very glad you do as well. I want to say this though: those facts in no way take away from the fact that many more then the 1000 US soldiers have lost their lives, and that is something we need to take more seriously.

I'd really appreciate feedback on this one. I'm getting into soapbox mode so I think it's time to stop. Just remember people are dying in the world, what are you doing about it?

2004-09-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

So I was bored the other day and thought I'd check out wheatonforum.com
If you don't know what that is (or was) it is a online website for Wheaton College students to talk about all kinds of things. One cool feature was where you could rate professors, which was helpful in deciding who to take for classes. Anyways, to my disappoitment, the website is no longer there!
Well, I quickly stepped into action and you can now find http://www.wheatonlist.info as the new source for all your wheaton posting needs.

Hopefully people see it, so tell your friends.

2004-09-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

I can write from Anywhere!
This is very cool. I'm in the library, just finished some Greek homework and now on to some other stuff (It's called hermeneutics, you think they could find an easier word). Mindy's at class and loving it, I hope.
She's got her big GRE test this week so she's a little stressed trying to study for that and a bunch of other exams this week. Don't they know about the GRE!!! Somebody should tell them. Okay, they probably do.
Well, nuff here I just wanted to enjoy they versatility of a website like this.
Oh and by the way our really cool cousin (all the other cousins are cool too, we haven't forgotten you!) is going to the Dominican Republic! She wanted a place to update people to so here is her new blog: http://izzyandmandy.blogspot.com and she is raising support so if you feel lead to donate let me know and I'll tell you how.

later!

2004-09-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

This is my beautiful wife mindy.

2004-09-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

In an effort to start making this more thought provoking I thought I'd write about another thing on my mind. I'm trying to decide what to write for our school newspaper again and I've only got one major idea in mind and it has to do with politics. I want to know why people want to vote for George Bush. Christians, I know he says he's a Christian but besides that fact alone I just have a hard time with it. I did the survey's on these two sites:

http://www.selectsmart.com/president/
http://www.presidentmatch.com/Guide.jsp2 (thanks Zach!)

Turns out I'm closest in line with Cobb (green party) then Nader then Kerry, and Bush is like a 21% match. Why? I guess I'm not in favor of outlawing homosexuals like so many Christians seem to want to do. And though I think abortion is wrong, seeing as the past couple Republican presidents haven't done much about it, I'd rather see things done to support the women who are facing those tough decisions. I know I probably exaggerated things there or simplified them or something. That's just the two things I hear Christians give for voting Bush. Oh, and I'm definitly against the war.

nuff said for now.

peace.

2004-09-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

I made this little site to tell Wheaton Students about free stuff. It's called http://www.freewheatonipod.info

just a simple site kind of a spoof on the actual wheaton college website.
Let me know what you think of it.

Sorry the freewheatonbooks.com site isn't working yet

2004-09-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

Just so you know: That last blog Remembering 9/10 was an article I wrote for last weeks Wheaton Record (Wheaton College school Newspaper). Thought you might like to see it. I'll post a few more up here later.

2004-09-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Remembering 9/10

This date will go down in history as a tragic one for our world. The cold heartedness that could bring such atrocity to mankind makes ones heart tremble. We pause in remembrance of the tragedy that has occurred. We look forward, gaining strength from those who have been an example of heroism in the past.

The evil of hunger claimed the lives of 40,000 children on 9/10 that did not need to die. They were little ones to whom belongs the kingdom. Their death was not due to the overt hatred and action of ones they would call their enemies. These children died because of the passive complacency of people they might even call friends. There is no monument built at which to lay flowers or say prayers on behalf of these victims. Their names are not remembered on this campus, for we did not know them personally.

Try as we may, we cannot point the finger and say with conviction, "let justice be served." If there is injustice it is our own doing. If we seek to point the finger we can only look to our own apathy and lack of concern for addressing this tragedy. This catastrophic event that we faced and continue to face is real and it is happening everyday. This is an issue that requires, even demands, our action. History will repeat it self. History IS repeating itself.

We do not mourn this tragedy without hope, we have hope. We have an example and a hope to look to because there are heroes who came before us. Jesus was that example and he IS that hope. He told us to give to the least of these, to love our neighbors; He feed, healed, shared. Like the parable of Lazarus we stand as the rich man with the resources God has given to us and we are not sharing with the poor beggar who is within our reach.

Let me be clear, the events remembered on 9/11 are tragic, and we are right to remember and mourn. For those who experienced the loss of friends or family, I and this community grieve with you. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to witness first hand the loss of a loved one, and collectively with so many in our nation. 9/10 should not be any less remembered. The loss of life that occurred this day was tragic and was within our means to stop. And each day from then until now the same tragedy occurs, and we either never cared in the first place, or have become so desensitized that our heart is numb.

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” These children that are dying are our neighbors, many are our brothers and sisters in Christ. In past centuries we could say we lacked the means and resources to address these issues. Today we do not have that option. If we continue to live in the gross abundance that we have as our brothers and sisters daily die of starvation and disease that we can combat, we are without excuse.

Grieve 9/11 and pray the Lord keep your heart tender and open to His love. Grieve 9/10 and each day, and pray the Lord would turn your heart to a fervent life changing love for those in need. Pray he teaches you his truth, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

2004-08-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

freeiPods.com

This is a sweet site. It's totally legit, I know because I've done it. It works like this: This company gets paid everytime someone signs up for AOL or something through their links. So they are willing to intice you with a free ipod for signing up and getting five friends to sign up. I've done it and my ipod is on the way. I've gotten free dvd's from the same company at freedvds.com and I'm on my way to getting a free flat screen monitor. Just check out my page about it at iamnotashamed.net

I could go on about it, trying to convince people of the legitimace of the whole thing, but I won't.
Just believe me.
Don't forget to cancel your trail of AOL!

2004-08-22T22:05:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't used this blog much at all, but there is no better time to start.

There are a few things I'd like to start blogging about as it relates to the internet. But it'd be fun to go to those pages and do that. so hold on.

2004-03-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Controlling Anger

Interesting site with good lessons on character. Could be useful for teaching the kids to behave with greater character.

2004-03-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd start blogging, see what it's like and how it works.
Maybe it will be useful.
more later