Poetry

Spring is fun

Spring is neat

Spring makes me run around

in bare feet

Yeah Estelle, you're not the only one here who can write poetry. Look at that Modernist genius right there; man I'm the next William Carlos Williams right here.

Freedom

So today, Mr. Davis did a devotion that 're-defined freedom', and I thought it was awesome. So I admit, I'm biting a lot off it, but it's definitely worth being bit off. I'll try to add my own take in there too though.

Freedom is defined in the dictionary as "the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint". This is the commonly accepted definition of freedom that we see all over the place; it's the kind of freedom that people think makes them truly happy and fulfilled.

However, having the freedom to do, say, or think anything is really not freedom at all; instead, it is bondage.

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Pause - Keep in mind what I just said, we'll go back there.
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As a christian, we know we are promised freedom in Christ:


For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death
-Romans 8:2


It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
-Galatians 5:1


Why is it then that Christ asks His followers to live as he did, to flee from sin and, in essence, live according to a more restricted set of 'rules' than the world? How is this freedom? I thought freedom was being able to do what I want to do whenever I want to do it.

Christianity gives you freedom because it limits your options to only ones that will be beneficial to you in the long run (eternity). Think about it, if you are presented with 10 options, 10 ways to react in a situation, 7 of which will ultimately lead to your destruction and 3 that will save you, the world says that you are more free if you have 10 options, even if some are bad options. However, Christ says you should eliminate the 7 that will lead to destruction, leaving you with only the 3 options that will save you. Is this not more freeing, having only 3 options that will all benefit you? You are more free when you only have the desire to choose the beneficial options.

If that isn't working for you, think about it this way: Is an adult more free than a baby? If we are sticking to the definition the world gives us, then no, a baby is far more free than an adult. For example, a baby can go to the bathroom whenever it wants. As an adult, would it make you more free if you relieved yourself whenever you felt it necessary? Wore a diaper just to make life simple? Most people I know would agree that this would not be a freeing choice, but simply increase your dependence upon the diaper. No, freedom is when you eliminate the option of relieving yourself in your pants and choose instead to only use a restroom.

If we live with our lives aligned to Christ, set our sights on His sights, desire what He desires, we experience a freedom infinitely more freeing than could ever be experienced simply by following the desires we have in this world.

Film Awesomeness *In no way related to the Academy Awards*

So, some of you may know that my latest short film Divergence was accepted to the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) in Seattle, WA. Am I ridiculously stoked about this? Yes indeed. Ridiculously. Stoked.

And I lied, this post is a tiny bit related to the Academy Awards. Not a single one of the winners thanked God. Not one. In one sense, I think this is kinda a good thing, cause if that's really not what's on their minds then I don't want them just going up and spurting words out all over the place. But anyway, if I won an Oscar, I'd thank God. Just throwing that out there. I want to win an Oscar, that'd be ridiculously awesome.

But back to NFFTY (not an oscar yet... baby steps, baby steps). I get to fly up to Seattle with Nicholas and Justin, (they made the movie with me) and hang out there for a couple days, go to the screening of my film and other films, have a question and answer about the film, meet industry people, and potentially win some awards. I don't expect to win anything but hey, we'll see what happens. Divergence isn't on youtube or anything yet, but as soon as the festival is over I'll upload it to youtube. In the meantime, watch other stuff at my youtube site.

Alright... I think that's all I have to say about Film Awesomeness for now. And I promise I won't use this blog for advertisement too often, haha, I was just too ridiculously excited about getting accepted to this festival and couldn't contain it. SO... I blogged.

FIN

The Earth in Crisis

It is 2105 and our planet is in a heap of trouble - literally. Wasteful generation after wasteful generation has deposited more and more trash on the face of our planet, so much so that we can no longer survive on our beloved planet. So, we create small robots that clear trash out of the way as we humans depart in giant cruise spaceships created by 'Buy n Large' and wait for the robots to clean up our mess.

Yes, I confess, I may have taken some of those ideas from the Pixar film Wall-E (another excellent film I must say). However, the problem that is (perhaps over-dramatically) portrayed in Wall-E is a very real problem that our generation may be facing in the near future if we continue living life as wastefully as we have been living for years now.

But wait, before I get off-topic, trash and pollution aren't the focus of the crisis I'm telling you about, they are merely the factors. Global Warming is the real issue at hand; trash and pollution are simply causes for this much more deadly and threatening effect. For years, research has been conducted trying to find ways to combat this horrible fate fast-approaching us; scientist after scientist has tossed out solutions such as driving hybrid cars (yeah right) or eliminating all styrofoam waste (sorry chinese takeout), but to no avail. However, recent scientific evidence has finally come to a conclusion on the main factor of global warming: The Sun.

Yes, the sun is indeed the main cause of global warming. So, the obvious solution: eliminate the sun. Now, I don't expect you to believe this just because an amazingly well-educated and intellectual person told you, so I will relay for you the results of the recent scientific study that was conducted. If you still doubt, you can repeat the procedure in the comfort of your own home with a very small list of supplies.

Supplies

• Heat Lamp (can be bought at pet-co)
• Styrofoam Model Earth, approximately 3" in diameter (if you still believe the scientists of older days, you can get an earth-friendly model made of recycled corn starch if you would like. Although, after conducting the experiment, you will probably regret expending the extra effort.)
• Assorted Hairsprays and pollutants
• Thermometer

Procedure

1. Set up your heat lamp so it is facing outward at a 90 degree angle to the table.
2. Place your model earth approximately 1 to 2 feet from the heating lamp.
3. Heavily coat the earth in hairspray and other pollutants (be generous here), then record the (external) temperature of your model earth.
4. Turn on heating lamp and let sit for 5 minutes. Record the temperature. You will notice that your styrofoam earth begins to heat up. This is normal, as heat will reach the model because of radiation, much like heat from the sun reaches earth.
5. Now attempt to wipe off most of the pollutants from the earth. This represents traditional attempts to clean up our earth and slow global warming. Let your model sit for 5 more minutes and record the temperature. You will notice that your styrofoam earth is still heating up, even though most (if not all) the pollutants are gone.
6. Turn off the heat lamp and let your model earth sit for 2 minutes. Record the temperature. You will now notice that in only 20% of the time spent heating up the earth, the temperature has already decreased.
7. Again, heavily coat the earth in hairspray and other pollutants (with the lamp still off) then record the temperature one final time. Even after placing more pollutants on the earth, you will still find that the temperature is dropping.

Therefore, the sun is the main cause of global warming. Our only sure-fire way to get this problem under control is to extinguish the sun.