In which I discuss Truth

Current Tunes: Eye Alaska
Current Plans: movie and ice cream, like the good old days.
Current Excitement: Going home for Christmas on Sunday! Until then: WORK.

Hola gentes.

As of last Friday, I have officially finished my 1st semester out of high school, and my first semester at IHOPU. Is it bad that I refuse to call it college? This.... is not college. When other IHOPU students who have not been to an actual university call this college, I want to shake them and proclaim, "You are incorrect, sir or madam!" Because. This whole semester was a BREAK from life. The 'homework' never took me more than 30 minutes to finish, the quizzes were only challenging if I didn't look over my notes, and the classes were just sermons! But I am told that starting next semester, classes will actually require brain power, so I'm pumped.

Speaking of next semester, HOLY COW, I WILL HAVE LITTLE TO NO TIME TO BREATHE. So I registered for classes and got my schedule a few weeks ago, and every time I look at it now, I get really nervous. The good part: no more 6AMs! Which, I will kind of miss. But my days won't start earlier than eight, which means back to my normal sleep schedule! No more going to bed between 8:30-9. So yeah, I've got PR hours (24ish a week), keys class, choir, prophetic singing, music theory class, theology class, practicum, chapel, church, and some other stuff I'm probs forgetting. On top of all of that, I have to somehow fit in 12-16 hours of work a week... So I'll be swamped. I'm talking back-to-back activities, no breaks, for like 12 hours a day. At least I'll have free weekends, from what I can tell. So.

In a few days, I'll be back on that familiar road home. I. Can't. Wait. Fireplace, friends, cake, mommy&daddy, BABY, my disorganized room (aka reading cave), etc. And Christmas! Which is forever my favorite holiday. I'm kind of terrified for the drive, though, because snow+me+my car= disaster waiting to happen. Not kidding. Not only is my car horribly unreliable and unsafe, but I, for some reason, never got the Driving in the Snow gene, and am ever fearful of losing control of my vehicle. Which I did once, and it was the scariest and slowest thirty seconds of my whole life. BOO SNOW. I'm moving to Cali. Or Italy. What would it be like to live somewhere where it NEVER snowed?? I can't even imagine. The inhabitants of those places have no idea how lucky they are. Granted, they probs have other problems like hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, etc. Well boo on nature then. BOOOO trying to kill us all. THE POINT IS. I am going home.

And for those of you curious, my home-going schedule is as follows: Drive home Dec 19th, drive back to KC the 28th for onething, drive back to MN the 1st or 2nd, hang out hang out, then drive back to KC on the 16th to start my new semester the 17th!

Most of the above ^^ was for the benefit of my mother, who I'm sure is wondering why I haven't called in awhile. Well, mum, there's all you needa know.

Okay, so if you know me, you know that sometimes I get lost in my brainthoughts and follow a bunny trail as far as I can. The bunny trail I've been on lately is-- gear up for it-- homosexuality. I won't go into it just yet, because ... I just won't. I do, however, want to talk about some brainthoughts I have acquired whilst doing all my research and reading lately.

TRUTH. Is the keyword here. What is truth? Who defines truth? Is truth relative, subject to change, or subject to our emotions?

As a Christian, y'all know what I believe: Jesus is the [one] WAY, the [one] TRUTH, and the [one] LIFE. So basically, I believe what He says, goes, and errythang else either lines up with Him and is also true, or conflicts with Him and is therefore untrue. Furthermore, I believe the BIBLE is the living, breathing Word of God, and I believe that JESUS is also the Word of God. I believe Jesus is the Word made flesh. So by the transitive property, I believe that the BIBLE is also the ultimate TRUTH.

I have been told recently by a few sources that the Bible, being written by mere humans, is subject to interpretation and can be interpreted many different ways. This is partially true ( I believe that the Bible was written by GOD through human beings, but that's not the direction I care to go right now), however, some of the people I received this ambiguous claim from were the very same who were not simply 'interpreting' but rather 'editing' the WORD. And I'm not sure that interpretation= twisting, changing, or editing God's WORD. In order to correctly interpret the WORD (aka the TRUTH), one must have a) a foundational theological understanding of the nature and enduring character of God, b) access to different versions of the Bible, as well as a word-for-word straight from the Greek interpretation (here's a helpful site for this) and c) the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is the one who guides us into truth. He's kind of like our conscience in that way. RE letter a of this list, what I mean to say is that if you don't understand that the God of the Old Testament is the SAME, EXACT, UNCHANGED, and UNCOMPROMISED God/Jesus of the New Testament, you might have a tendency to disregard the Laws and 'stories' of the OT because of legalism, fear, ignorance, etc. However, I recently dug my heels deep into the first five books of the Bible, and aside from having like, a million questions that need answers, I realized that it is a VERY good thing that we are covered by the blood of Christ, otherwise we would all be smited, right now. And that God, that same God who killed Aaron's sons simply for starting the wrong kind of fire in the temple (ask me for the reference if you need it, I'd have to go get my Bible), is the same God that I still worship today. Crazy, right? The one thing that's changed between the early tribes of Israel and us is that WE'VE been redeemed (granted, they too have been redeemed in retrospect, but still).

I'm getting a bit off topic, and that's to be expected when you're as deep in the mire as I have been lately, however. What I mean to say is that just because we desperately want to believe that "God wouldn't do this" or "God would never do that" doesn't make it true. Yes, God is a God of love and forgiveness, however, I don't believe He's a God of tolerance or blind acceptance! SIN and DARKNESS cannot stand in His presence. It is His very nature to DESTROY the things that insult His extreme righteousness. Think about that for a minute. That's the God you worship. Now, I don't mean to be all doom and gloom about God. I mean, He's a good guy and I'm rather fond of Him. I just think the Church and society in general needs a reality check and a right view of who God is, and why it's so important we strive to live holy. Furthermore, it's NOT up to US to decide what's a sin and what's not. Sin is, by nature, fun, pleasurable, easy, and addicting. So we may try to push the boundaries and say, "Well, I'm not hurting anyone else, so this can't possibly be a sin." PEOPLE. READ THE OLD TESTAMENT, I DARE YOU. Find out the kind of seemingly petty things that people died for, then try to justify your sin before God. It ain't gonna happen.

To tie this up, please understand that there is a GOOD part to this story of smiting and holiness: JESUS CHRIST. Because of Him, we get second, third, and fifty thousandth chances to make ourselves right. We have the grace and the RIGHT to stand before the throne of God with BOLDNESS, because we've been adopted into His family!!!

Speaking of adoption, I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but the button to the right ---> is a picture of my soon-to-be nephew waiting for us in Eastern Europe. If you can find it in your heart (and wallet) to donate to the cause of BRINGING HIM HOME, please click on the button to find out how. Please. At any rate, please pray that the process goes off smoothly. Find out more on my sister's blog.

Okay, that was plenty for tonight. If you made it through all of that, congratulations! I would high five you, but I'm in bed. So. Please, please, talk to me if you have questions, comments, concerns, arguments, or love to share.