Am I slave or am I master...

Lately I have found a number of things in my life I have not wanted to part with because they mean too much to me. This serves as a wake up call that I may be ripe for an enslaving destructive dependency… if left unchallenged, deception and denial will spread and blind my heart, and this deception will allow my addictions to gain their foothold. If the problem is unchecked, addictions can destroy my capacity for self control. So why do I engage in such behavior? Because it turn my lows into temporary highs, providing doses of relief that I control. All are ways that I find to relieve pain or helplessness or boredom.
The realty is that its promise of freedom is really a house of mirrors that traps me with little hope of escape, the effects are always self destructive. Of course I would quit if I could on my own, but I have become a slave to my own desires, and often I believe I deserve the relief and power my addiction provides.
Don’t get me wrong, the desire to feel good is not unhealthy, but having a belief that one needs relief “NOW” regardless is a trap leading to enslavement in a destructive dependency. When feeling good becomes more important to a person then doing good, loving others, or knowing God, they are drifting on the waves of the addicted. A need for relief does not have to drive us into arms of addiction. The question I need to ask myself is "am I willing to feel the inescapable pains and valleys in my life?" The alternative is committing to immediate relief and control. Ravi Zacharias reminds me that “All pleasure cost (something). For legitimate you pay the price before pleasure. For illegitimate you pay the price after pleasure.”

a spoonful a day keps the doctor away...

Why is it that people are willing to use Aspirin for Headache and birth control for decreasing one’s chances (97% to be exact) of impregnation , but when the idea of behavioral modification techniques or psychotherapy is introduced people resists stating they don’t want a part of that psycho stuff. Do they not realize that just as there body’s are chemically composed, so are their brains. More precisely, they have the limited ability to change the chemical compositions in their own brain, influencing their own perception and behavior. Scary to think one’s perception is actually formed by a serious of chemical substances interacting in a nero network of cells. Perhaps our perceptions then if subjective to external and internal stimuli aren’t as invulnerable as we might think.

Is your girl high matinance?

Is your girl high maintenance? From the article the top ten signs that your chick is a high maintenance girl:

1 - She's unfair.
2 - She's daddy's girl.
3 - Going out is like the countdown to eternity.
4 - Irrational demands.
5 - Bills.
6 - She doesn't do "dressed down".
7 - What does "sacrafice" mean?
8 - Difficult to please.
9 - Social brick.
10 - My way or the highway.

"It is easier to shun the bait...then get caught in the snare."
-Ravi Zacharias

Obama said...

Just got done watching the Democratic national convention. Obama ended it with the scripture reference "let us hold firmly to the hope that we profess". The actual verse he was referring to was most likely Hebrews 4:14 (New International Version) which states "14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.".... gotta use it in Context Obama. So do you think he used it in the right context?

Lessons from a Dog...

Today was a long day! I was at Ball State till 9:30, after which I quickly went home to my apt. Thankfully I resisted the urge to turn on the TV and turn my mind off. Instead I sat on the balcony and pondered while the warm august breeze blew ever so gently in the nights presence. I noticed through the glass sliding doors from my 3rd floor view that a tenant in the 1st floor apartments was playing tug of war with his large doberman looking dog. And then it hit me, my story with the living God was often like this animal. As does this salivating beast depend on his master for food, so I reach to the father for true nourishment. Often the dog is accepted into families not for his intellect or his contribution...but simply because he loves and surrenders to the master. My disobedient acts led me to mentally form the picture of once such dog walking along with his master. In my minds eye I could see at times how patiently I would walk along side the Father...but when something I liked would catch my eye, and I would chase after it. I was oblivious to any dangers that would lay ahead. Of course He always saw farther than I, and His patient walk reveled that He had been on this trail before. Eventually the chase would end and I would come to my senses. I would turn around and see that the master had been running along side me, concerned about my life. Like so many times before I would turn with my tail between my legs, recognizing my mistake and desiring to resume my walk with Him. He has always happily excepted me back into his loving arms, embracing me no matter the distance. The analogy contains many flaws, but in it's essence it serves as a reminder to me that ultimate dependence on Jesus is not a burden... but in fact is liberating. Reliance on my self... well that's just plain dangerous.

"...Time....is on my side...yes it is..."

It's amazing how often I procrastinate on those things that matter most, only to delay the inevitable. I often find myself finishing those little tasks like cleaning the apartment or doing dishes, when more important things require my attention (don't even get me started on my thesis). I found myself doing this very same thing just hours ago. I have a large paper due that is worth a significant portion of my grade, and instead of rushing to finish it...I decide it's a good time to shave all the hair off my chest.

Now before you go deleting me from your phone book or removing me as a friend on facebook, allow me to explain. I don't normally shave my chest (*Coff* Luke Burger *Coff*), but this was a special circumstance. I had gotten sun burned all over my chest, arms, and back two weeks ago and in the past week the skin has been pealing off my body. When I get in the shower (warning, this is gross), the skin peals off and clings to my Brawny Paper Towel Man chest hair. This makes me look like I just stepped out of the radioactive Chernobyl, not the effect I want if I am going to the pool. This at least solves that problem. Yet don't you think this could have waited.

It's not just me, The author of "How to eat a frog" talks about how, in every one's life, there are those things that influence most the impact of one's life. They represent in importance around the top in the list of the things we plan on getting done. Ironically the majority of people spend 90 percent of their time on those tasks in the bottom of that list and only 10 percent on the top. If I devoted the majority of my time to what was truly important... such impact would be noticeable. Think about it. Oh, and have you recognized yet that the quote from the title is from a song, "tiiiiiiiimmmmmeeeee, is on my side...yes it is". Don't recognize it? It's also sung by Azeal in the movie Fallen with Denzel Washington (good movie).