Facing our fears... by running

A few weeks ago, a teacher at my church did a lesson on being "threatened" by sin... the times when we get tempted. It was a great lesson and I'd like to put a few thoughts of mine on paper.

 When it comes to sinning, or temptation to sin, so many times we "sit" in our sin. We assume we have will power that we don't actually have. Then, after our mistake is made, we look back and realize, "oops, I should have known better". It's so easy to say "i can go to the bar, I just won't drink" or "I'm just cussing under my breath" or "They're just in swimsuits" or the more extreme "I'm just talking... I'm not cheating". In the end, this only leads to trouble.

God wants to not only say no to temptation, but flee from temptation. Not only should you be free of sin, but soooo free that no one can question your sinlessness... So how can we run from temptation? There are many, many ways to do this... and too many times we don't "go all the way". Here are the things that have really been laid on my heart the past few days.

1 Timothy 6:11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Immerse yourself in scripture
The power of scripture can't be explained in any number of words, it has to be experienced... This cannot be expressed enough. I can't count the number of times that a scripture read has directly applied to a current situation I was in.

Judge Napolitano pulls the veil!

I saw this youtube video this weekend, and thought it did a great job explaining exactly how I've been feeling. Also, pretty much the exact reason I've been supporting Ron Paul in this election. Please watch the video, and I'll have a few thoughts afterwards...

"What if the 2 party system was a mechanism used to limit public opinion?"

"What if there is no such thing as public opinion? What if what we call public opinion is just a manufactured narrative,

Dumping China

The other day, I had a facebook chat with Derrick Bemis, a buddy from Oklahoma State. We got on the topic of China, debating how China would react or be effected by certain US actions. It was a great back and forth, and Derrick suggested a joint blog post, which I thought was a great idea. We then transferred the conversation to email and cleaned it up just a bit...

Before we jump into the post, I'd like to give a few definitions....

ASEAN - The Association of Southeastern Asian Nations. They've taken steps to organize in a more European Union fashion, with China/Russia playing big roles.

Dollar peg - A peg is a fixed exchange rate. In essence, China tries to keeps its currency value fixed to the value of the US dollar.

Yuan - the Chinese currency

QE - Quantitative Easing. The US policy by which we print more dollars, cheapening our currency. The goal is to encourage spending and in turn trigger growth. In reality, we've frustrated other countries and hurt the world economy.

And with no further delay, our conversation, with some editorial comments after the chat.

• Derrick Bemis

  • I know ... I was saying I am looking at the China contrarian issue
  • What if we decide that the "big bad wolf" isn't so big and so bad.
  • I have been guilty of arguing against a trade war. What if we called their bluff.
  • I think they need us as much, if not more, than we need them. Specially with the peg and now with ASEAN developing
• 10 hours ago

  Kurtis Hanni

  • How would the ASEAN mean they need us more? I would think it'd mean the opposite
• 10 hours ago

  Derrick Bemis