Chicken Soup for the Mortal Soul

• Oct. 14, 2008 - So Let Me Pause, to Clarify... Again....

Posted in Serious
Well, once again, I am here, stating a clarification of my last post.

My good friend Legochristian left me a comment on my post entitled 'Who?', stating that the Antichrist can technically be anyone who is opposed to Christ, and thus those like Hitler, Hussein, and other terrible dictators can be classified as Antichrists.

I am very sorry if I confused any of you. I might not have made the main point of my message clear enough. The point I was trying to come across with was this:

We should not spend our time worrying about 'The Antichrist'. Instead, we should trust the Lord our God, and be prepared for when that final trumpet sounds, whether when we die, or when the Lord comes.

Put your focus on God. Trust. Be prepared.

~Nick

© Copyright 2008 by Nicholas Joel.
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• Sep. 30, 2008 - Sorry...

Posted in Serious

Sorry, but our internet is out right now, so I'm not going to be able to do a good post this week. As of now, I'm at the Library, typing on some really really REALLY loud keys that make a clicking sound whenever I touch them... so...

 

Sorry for the inconvenince. I'll post a better post next week...

 

~Nick

 

© Copyright 2008 by Nick Joel.

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• Sep. 2, 2008 - Respect Their Opinions/Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them do Unto You

Posted in Serious

Well, over the past few weeks, there has been a topic on my mind which I have been wanting to blog about. A topic that is very difficult to find the proper balance on.

 

I want to take some time to blog about respect of other people’s opinions and views.

 

 

When I first started blogging, I was very inexperienced. I had few friends, and my posts weren’t very good.

 

As I started to mature in my blogging, I got more friends. And with more friends came different views on morality, religion, and even on simple things like books you read or music you listen to.

 

As my eyes were opened to these different views; I felt the need to share with everyone my opinion on these views, which was fine, to an extent.

 

But before I knew it, instead of kindly telling people what I believe is right, I started impressing upon people ‘what is right and what is wrong’. I gave no thought to the fact that maybe what I thought was wrong might potentially not be wrong to someone else.

 

I eventually got into some pretty deep debates with several people, and I always impressed upon them that my views were right, and that theirs were not, and that they were the ones who needed to change. I never even gave a thought to the fact that maybe I was the one who was wrong.

 

As I got deeper and deeper into arguments and debates, I pushed my views onto other people even more savagely, telling them that they were wrong, and what they did was sin.

 

But then, when I was getting to the height of my ‘opinion pushing’, something happened.

 

There is an old saying that my youth pastor in Michigan used a lot. The saying goes: ‘You can dish it out, but you can’t take it when it comes around’. Meaning, you can do stuff to people, yet you can’t stand it when the same thing happens to you.

 

Well, it did come around to me. After dishing and dishing my opinion out, and shoving it upon people, I had a girl come and start criticizing me for everything I did. I couldn’t do a single thing without her going, ‘You’re sinning.’ She got mean at times; impressing her opinion on me.

 

I seriously almost got to the point of crying when that happened. I wondered why God would allow that to happen to me; to have somebody always impress what they believed was righteous upon me. The person didn’t even ask if maybe what I did was okay for me, though it might not be for them.

 

As I pondered, God reminded me of all the people I had shoved my opinion upon. Who I had shamelessly dished my opinion on morality on without even pondering whether or not they might have different views on morality.

 

After this had happened, I apologized profusely to the people I had attacked. I still have one more to apologize to, but I’m going to next time I see her.

 

 

But the point that I want to make through my story is this:

 

It is so easy to get into the thought pattern that your view on morality, or even silly things like books, music, movies; is the righteous view, and that if someone else has even the slightest different opinion on something, you need to correct them.

 

Before you correct someone, it is always important to remember that you might possibly be doing something against their view of morality.

 

 

In closing, I hope that this will teach some of you younger bloggers a life-lesson that is essential for every blogger; and that this will remind some of the older bloggers a lesson too.

 

Make sure that before you dish out your opinion on everyone else, that you think over the fact that you wouldn’t like it if someone did that to you. Make sure that you also think that maybe what someone is doing could be morally right for them, even if it isn’t exactly in accordance to what you believe.

 

Respect is the key. Respect other’s opinion, views, and beliefs. Especially if you want them to respect yours.

 

~Nick



© Copyright 2008 by Nick Joel.
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• Jul. 18, 2008 - The End of My Blog

Posted in Serious
My fellow friends, it is with a heavy heart that I come and tell you that my blog will now be ending.

Well, at least for a couple of weeks.

I won't be able to blog/respond to comments for anywhere from a  few days to possibly a month.

I hope you all have a wonderful summer, and hopefully I will be back on the blogosphere soon.

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Notice:

I will still be doing my column on the Backyard, and I will still be doing the online art-class.

Everything else, blogging, email, and all that other stuff will be put on hold.

Thanks for reading!

~Nick

© Copyright 2008 by Nick Joel.
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• May. 23, 2008 - Drawing Class

Posted in Serious
Hi everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that Heather from An Untraditional Home (http://elsah.com) is hosting an art class for anyone six (or was it eight) and up who is interested.

It is free for anyone who's older than eight who wants to join. Me, Jake, Emily, and Julia are all doing it.

It would be great if you guys could check it out. The theme of the classes is how to draw people, which is something that I'm not very good at.

Here's the picture I drew:

NickSorry if the picture is a little fuzzy...

~Nick

  (c)Copyright 2008 by Nick Joel.
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• May. 7, 2008 - We Should Know Better...

Posted in Serious
"Oh, the Bible! To be sure, it says a great many such things; but, then, nobody ever thinks of doing them... nobody does. ~Henrique St. Clare, Uncle Tom's Cabin
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Well, I thought that I should take a break from attacking our corrupted media for a change. I'm going to write on something completely different this time, something new. I'm going to write about the sad failure of a great and strong race, the race who call themselves Christians.

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Don't get me wrong, I am a 'Christian', and I believe in God, that he created the world, and that his son is Jesus, and that he died for me on Calvary, to take away my sins.

But I also believe that Satan is strong, and that he has many resources.

From the beginning, Satan has attacked God, as stated in the Bible. When he realized that attacking God doesn't pay off, he went for a new type of attack, an attack against God's children, an attack that pays off a little better for him.

Satan has worked, and created many new types of 'Religions', one of the most destructive to the Christians being Mormonism. But Satan does not just attack Christians by making false religions. He also attacks them from the inside. He made a new religion, and the religion is called, 'Christianity', if you follow me.

There are four types of Christianity, and I will list each of them, so that you know what I am speaking of later in this post.

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1. The first type of Christianity is the Christians who say, "I am a Christian, so vote for me Tuesday!"

The first type of Christianity says, "I'm a Christian, just so that the world will think better of me, and so that the Christians will think I'm a great person.

2. The second type of Christian is the Plastic Christian. "I have a Jesus T-Shirt, and Jesus music, so I'm obviously a Christian!". The second type says, "Since I have Jesus merchandise, that must mean that I am a Christian, so I can go to heaven!"

3. The third type of Christian is the one who has gone to Sunday school all his or her life, and knows all the Bible stories, and has said with his lips, "I love God, please come into my heart". This type of Christian pretty-much believes, "Since I go to church, I'm saved!"

4. The fourth type of Christian says, "I believe in God, and I love him with my heart. I am so inspired by the greatness of God and his love for me, that I will follow him with all my heart, mine, and soul!"

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The fourth Christian is a true Christian, the true follower of God. The other three are not true Christians.

Satan has morphed even the Christians themselves, so that they are not truly following God, but him. It is sad, because these people believe that they are going to heaven, and that they're following God, yet if they're only considering themselves Christians because they go to church, or wear a bracelet that says WWJD on it, then they are not truly following God, but instead, believing Satan's lies.

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The true Christian's nightmare is confronting a Mormon about faith. I will explain...

A Mormon has very very very high morals. They know how to be humble, modest, joyful, dedicated, peaceful, etc.

A Christian must live a very very very pure life to confront a Mormon and say, "Your religion is not the true one."

The Mormon religion is very similar to the Christian one. Satan morphed the Christian religion into Mormonism, and that is why it's so similar to Christianity.

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Satan has attacked us Christians, so that so many people go out and say, "I am a Christian", not caring what type of lifestyle they are living.

So, I personally know three men who say, "I am a Christian,", and yet, at home, chew tobacco.

I can list three 'Christian' women who wear low-cut shirts and dresses every other week to church or at home. And unfortunately, two of these 'Christian' women are married, and one is about to be married.

Another place where I find a source of false Christians is on TV. A very famous singer, Jordin Sparks, claims to be a Christian, and yet she can't resist wearing a low-cut dress while on TV.

And then...

Enter the Mormons to make the Christian battle harder...

While we have these 'Christians' messing up all over the place, not only in their homes, but on national TV, we have Mormons living a pure, perfect lifestyle.

Brooke White, my favorite American Idol contestant, is a Mormon. I have carefully watched her since Hollywood week, and I have not seen one bit of her body. She is very careful about how modest she is.

David Archuleta, another Mormon/American Idol contestant, is very humble, happy, peaceful, pure... unlike alot of Christians I know.

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We as Christians need to take a stand. We need to stop living for ourselves. You might think that it doesn't matter if you mess up, and that no one will see, but they are wrong. People will see. They are not only hurting themselves, but all Christians.

We cannot let the Mormons come out and win over the world with their religion, because it is not true! If we live our lifestyles in worldly ways, will the world be blown away by us? Will they want to switch to Christianity?

We as Christians need to do better than this. We need to grow up, and take the responsibility that it takes to show the world that our faith is the one true faith, and that our God is the one true God.

I'll end my post with a challenge. Which Christian are you? Are you a Christian just because you go to church? Are you a Christian because you know all the hymns, because you wear Icthus Fish earrings? Are you a Christian who gives in to the twisting lies of Satan?

Or are you a Christian who follows God, and lives your life purely, so that the world may know that we are Christians?

Which are you?

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One last thing. If you are a Mormon, and are viewing this blog, please note that I am not attacking you, nor do I think you are evil. I am just stating facts on Mormonism in general. I am not picking on any one person.

~Nick
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• Apr. 12, 2008 - Lessons from TV...

Posted in Serious
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Achtung: Even if you do not watch the show American Idol, you can still learn from this post, so please read it! Achtung: Even if you do not watch the show American Idol, you can still learn from htis post, so please ...
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Well, in this post, I will be referring to American Idol, but if you do not watch the show, don't be afraid. This is not about the show in general, but from something I learned from it. So, read on!

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For the longest time, halfway through Wednesday Night's episode of American Idol, they would stop the show, and show a clip of a TV special that American Idol itself hosted, called 'Idol Gives Back'. They would show clips of little children in Africa, and they would talk about how, if you donated money to Idol gives back, they would send that money to help the poor little children you saw.

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The show, Idol Gives Back, which I've spoke of in the last paragraph, looked really good. The whole point of it was that, they would take a night off of the regular American Idol show, and in its place, they would invite several famous people onto the American Idol stage, and the people would ask you to donate money for the poor children of Africa.

Naturally, I wanted to watch this show. Quite frankly, I'd like to watch anything tied in with American Idol. But anyways, Mom allowed to let us watch this.

The show was two and a half hours long. How on earth we persuaded Mom to let us spend that much time in front of the TV, I will never know.

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The show started, the American Idol theme came on (doo doo doo doo doo doo, doo doo!), the lights popped on, and Ryan Seacrest came onto the screen. The show had started.

The show started out with a pretty crumby dance number, with a whole bunch of stars. You can guess how that turned out. Secular men and women on TV, dancing... yeah. I was hoping Mom wouldn't make us turn off the TV.

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Almost immediately after, Ben Stiller, a famous actor, walked on to the screen, to ask people to please donate money to Idol Gives Back. But, before he did that, he decided he was going to make the people laugh. He started off talking about how someone had, kicked Idol's ---. My Mom looked at me, and said, "Nick, I'm really disturbed. If I hear one more word like that, this TV goes off.". I was seething at Ben Stiller. He knew that kids watched this show. He should have known better...

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Several worldly dance numbers later....

Another comedian comes on. Great. He starts talking about Simon Cowell, the judge for American Idol. He talks, and talks, and some of it was funny. And then...

He started talking about Simon's body. Argh! At this point, I changed the channel. Too much for me. I was not going to listen to crass jokes.

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More musical dance numbers....

Then Robin Williams comes in. He was funny, and I really laughed at his jokes. But then... he himself couldn't resist making cracks at Simon's body. Again, I found myself changing the channel.

It ended with a famous star singing. Not too bad...

Then it finished with Ben Stiller walking in, realizing everybody is gone, and yelling. They bleeped him several times. I know it was staged, but that was a rather awkward time for me...

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When it was finished, Mom said, "That was a bunch of junk. I don't know why we watched it."

Two and a half hours of my day wasted. Two and a half hours that I can never, ever get back. Two and a half hours of time that could have been spent doing something productive, wasted.

This got me to thinking. Is it really worth it, alot of the stuff we pour our time into? Couldn't we be doing more with our time? I have no problem with watching TV, none-the-less American Idol. But is it worth it, to spend two and a half hours of your life, on junk that doesn't build you up?

The point that I am getting to is this: You have one life, and when that ends, that's all you've got. Sure, if you believe in God, and follow him personally and closely, you'll get to heaven. You'll be in heaven for eternity. But you're only on this earth for a short time. Don't waste your precious time on things that don't build you up, on trash from the TV. Spend your time doing something productive.

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But hey, at least I know who Miley Cyrus is now! :-)

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~Nick
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• Mar. 31, 2008 - An Addition to the Friends...

Posted in Serious
"You mean, you mean you don't... like me?" Dory, Disney's Finding Nemo

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Well, do you remember my 'Friends Policy' post that I did a little while ago? Well, I forgot to add something to that post. And, it's rather important. It's about me, and how you, as my friends, would view me, and how I would tell you if I delete you from my friend's list.

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First of all, if any of you see anything on my blog that you deem inappropriate, please let me know. If it's a bad word, there's a chance that I mis-typed, or something. But anyways, send me a personal message, and not a comment, about the questionable thing. I'll try to respond to you for whatever reason necessary. But if you see something purposefully placed there that you deem wrong, then you have all rights to remove me from your friend's list. Please, though, send me a personal message letting me know that you are deleting me. You don't have to give me a reason, just please let me know, so that I'm not wondering why you're never commmenting.

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Now, if I have to delete any of you, I will try to tell you that I have to delete you, or not read your blog. I have had to delete a few people, because I deemed their blogs questionable (for me), but some people just haven't posted in a long time, so I just deleted them.

As I did say, I will attempt to tell you that I deleted you, unless you haven't posted in ten years... :-)

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I think that is all for now, and thank you for reading this! No, this is not a gloomy post, but it's not funny, either... :-)

~Nick
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• Mar. 25, 2008 - Pirates are Attacking the Children's Section! AAHH!!

Posted in Serious
Well, here's another utter degradation of our society post, though it's shorter than the other one that I did. Yes, you're probably getting tired of these. I promise you that the next two posts that I do will be funny ones. But until then...

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I was at our library today, looking through the children's movie section, trying to find some movies for my little siblings. My siblings (who are old enough to watch movies) are 2 through 5, one of which is a toddler. I was kind of cruising through the movies, looking, when I came to the Disney section. I flipped through, hoping to find a good movie for my siblings. Then, to my surprise, I saw Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean' sitting there, in front of me. Then, it hit me, 'this is the children's section, where children go to get their movies. Children, not teens, not adults, children.' And this was next to movies like, 'Finding Nemo', and 'Jungle Book'.

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It really disturbs me what movies you can find in the children's section in our libraries. Not only did I find Disney's 'Pirates', but I also saw 'Harry Potter', several of which are rated PG-13, and Disney's 'Jumanji'. This really disturbed me, because I, at age 13, am not even allowed to see 'Pirates', or 'Harry Potter'. And though I've seen 'Jumanji', it's WAY too scary for a little child.


What our society has accepted as 'Children's movies', some of which are not even suitable for adults. And I'm not necessarily talking about our 'tot' movies. Now, I'm also talking about teen movies. My parents would never dream of seeing many of the PG-13s that people throw out today. I can't list them, but even the titles sound horrible. PG-13 is supposed to mean that parents watch it with their thirteen year old. But, unfortunately, most parent's shouldn't even be seeing the PGs today! The sad thing is, parents of today are not being strong or wise enough about what they're letting their kids watch. Off the top of my head I can list several little children (under 9) who have seen PG-13 movies. It's very sad when parents are not strong enough to tell not only their kids, but society 'NO' when it comes to movies that are too grown up, or mature.

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I guess I would like to end this post with a scripture verse that sums it all up, and that verse is Philippians 4:8, and it says:

"...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."

~Nick
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• Mar. 13, 2008 - By what Standards Would I Call You Friend?

Posted in Serious
"She's my, uh, friend..." Junie, Spykids 3

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For the longest time I've been wanting to do a post about what my standards for a friend on Homeschoolblogger is. And for the longest time, I've procrastinated, since I've had more interesting things to do. But now, the time has come for me to explain to you why I would call someone on Homeschoolblogger a friend, and why I would (or wouldn't) add them to my friend's list.

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Well, first of all, I would say that if you are my friend's list, I will consider you my 'friend'. Please keep this in mind...

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Well, let's start with what is a friend?

A friend is someone who's blog I read, and whom hopefully reads mine, whether periodically or not. Pretty much, a friendship for me on Homeschoolblogger is someone whom I comment, and who comments me, whom I talk to as I would a real-life friend. But it does not go past friendly talk via comment.

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Now, let's go to, what would it require to be put on my friend's list?

Well, to put it straight and simple, someone whom I would put on my friend's list is someone I would want my other viewers to read. So, I will be very careful about who I put on my friend's list.

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Why would I not put someone on my friend's list?

Well, I probably wouldn't put someone on my friend's list because I found that I, (a), found questionable content, or (b), I didn't appreciate some of the words they use, or (c), their outlook on life is not happy, and it shows in their style of writing. I will not put someone on my friend's list who has questionable content .

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Why would I take someone off of my friend's list?

Probably because I added them earlier, and then found that they had some questionable content on their blog. In that case, I would swiftly remove that person from my friend's list.

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Why do I not have alot of friends?

I truly believe that I could have at least a hundred friends if I wanted, but I believe that it's better to have a few good friends, rather than alot of friends whose blogs I don't agree with. I am not saying that people who have lots of friends are bad, many of my favorite bloggers have friends up into the hundreds. Lots of friends might be right for you, but they're just not right for me.

That, and I already have trouble keeping up with just seventeen friends... :-)

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Will I accept more friends?

Sure, I'll accept new friends, if they want me to. But if I don't get any more friends or viewers, I'll be content, because I'm happy right now with how many I have.

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Alright, well, that's my post. Thank you for reading!

~Nick~
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• Mar. 11, 2008 - The End of a Campaign...

Posted in Serious
"The campaign has ended, and we have recalled all our soldiers home. We will blame this whole thing on the only people possible: The Media..." The President, Brian Henson's Dinosaurs

Well, the campaign I spoke of in my last post has ended. Now all you texters can come out of your closets in which you've been hiding and sleep without fear tonight. Okay, I was joking. But seriously, I talked with the people who were doing this campaign, and found out that none of them really meant what they were saying. Hopefully no one's feelings were hurt through this. If you don't understand what I'm saying in this post, then please read my last entry. Thanks!

~Nick
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• Feb. 28, 2008 - Utter Degradation of Our Society

Posted in Serious
"TV is responsible for the utter degradation of our society. We should write letters." Grandma Ethyl, Brian Henson's Dinosaurs

As I have written many posts, I have always felt something lacking in them. I never have been satisfied with my serious posts. They have always been too shallow. But tonight, I am going to write my first post that has meaning and depth. I am going to speak out against the 4 sins of todays Media, in three different areas: In commercials, in TV shows, and in current movies.

Legochristian, Striker, and I have had a conversation recently via comment. We have talked alot about movies, tv shows, and such to that extent. Both have told me something to the extent of, 'We don't watch alot of TV,' at least one of them told me, 'We don't have cable', and at least one said, 'We try to only watch the good new releases.' This post is dedicated to you guys, thank you for giving me the inspiration of what to write about tonight.

Here is my post, I will start in sequential order of the four sins of todays Media, in order of least worst to worst, along with an example from each of the three groups of Media that I have stated:

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I'm sitting in the living room with my family, watching TV. The commercials are going. All of the sudden a piece of gum appears on the screen. I sigh in relief, as I am the one with the remote. I think, 'At least this is a commercial that I don't have to change the channel for!'. All of the sudden, I hear a woman's voice speaking about something that I'd never dreamed about in a gum commercial.The lady announcer says a very crude rhyme, which happens to mention a person's behind. And this is gum.

To me this was probably one of the most disturbing things in media today, which also happens to be sin number one of Media, and that is crassness. Media is terrible today with crude humor! I've seen two gum commercials already that I've had to change because of crass humor! It really does disturb me that I can't just watch a piece of gum on the screen without having to change the channel! Please bear with me though, because it is not just commercials that have this issue! You can't watch many movies without crassness now-a-days! Whether it's the 'Santa Clause 3', where Santa's Rain deer unmercifully pass gas, to the remake of 'Miracle on 34th St.', where Santa's pants fall down, and his crack is showing. Shows also. Come on, all of you have seen men get hit in certain areas on AFV, I believe we can all (who have seen that show) can admit to that fact. And that is one of the cleaner shows of today. So crassness is sin #4 of the media.

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A young, awkward red-head pushes open the door and enters the room. He looks around for a moment, then sees the head-chef, his back turned towards him. The chef then turns around, looks the young man in the eyes, and says, 'Welcome to h---'.

This made me very upset. Quite a few of you probably know what movie I am referring to. Disney's Ratatilloui was supposed to be a cute, family film, which was rated 'G'. But then again, you can't trust ratings today with movies.

Language has always been a problem with my family. We are very careful about what words we let our ears hear. That is one of the big reasons why I am a homeschooler right now. To give you a little background, our family has a machine that we hook up to the TV, and it takes off swear words. Unfortunately, we didn't think we'd need it for Ratatilloui, but we were wrong.

This is not only in movies, but not as much in commercials. But it is definitely in shows. I know that I am guilty of watching a TV show where they cuss a good amount. And that show would be American Idol, which is pretty big right about now. They let many words out that shouldn't be let out. Yes, this is the sin of media #3, which is language.

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A young blonde walks onto the stage. She picks up a microphone, then looks at the crowd and starts to sing. The obvious thing you can see is her brown tank-top, which is obviously too small for her. Pretty? Yes. Modest? No.


Kristy Lee Cook is a young contestant for American Idol. She is the person I was speaking of, during her performance two weeks ago.

American Idol, a TV show (as I have already stated), is the king of Immodest dressing, since it's live people, not just people acting. I think I have only seen one girl on the show who is modest, and that would be Brooke White. All of the others don't care who sees their bodies.

This is not just TV shows, though. I can't hardly watch a commercial without having to change it because of some girl who's trying to sell a beauty product isn't careful enough about how they dress. But then again, this is the point of the advertisers.

Movies also, have this problem. For this reason, me and my older brother could not see Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Immodesty is a big-time sin in America today. It's hard for both men and women. And it doesn't help when TV media screams it at you. Sin #2.

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The screen flashes image after image to you. First it's a lady with a gun, second a man punching another man, then something blowing up, people screaming, and then a shot rings out, then silence. The end of the commercial.

This has always made me the most mad, and is probably the most disturbing to me. Crassness is bad, because little children will pick up on it, and find it funny. And with language, yes, little children can learn it, but if they ever use it, hopefully their mom is smart enough to spank them. And immodest, that affects mostly older children. But violence is the most frustrating in my house.

As some of you know, I live in a house with 7 other siblings, 5 of which are under the age of 9. And my Dad is a big-time football fan, as are lots of American Dads. So unfortunately, advertisers stick commercials for their shows into the commercial slot for any grown-up show, whether football, or American Idol.

The frustrating thing is that little children don't know when to turn their eyes. And if nobody is watching the TV, and it's still on Daddy's game, and a commercial comes on, showing a man getting shot, this image will be burnt into the child's mind forever, and it will not only terrify him, but also corrupt him.

I cannot say much about violence in movies, as I have not seen many. Even TV shows, I cannot see many (none, to be exact) ones that have violence. But commercials are terrible. They show the violent parts. And we have to be careful, because you never know what little eyes may be watching. And this is sin #1.

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So what can you do about this? There is not much you can do to stop it. It is a corrupt thing, and as long as Satan is loose, America will demand these things. But you can make a difference. Many people have gone to the resource of not watching any bad movies in theaters. Yes, this is good to do, but then if you have pledged yourself to it, then you must also remember not to rent bad movies, as movie makers keep up with which movies you rent,

Though you can't stop this sin from happening, what you can do, and what I suggest that you do is this: I suggest that you guard your heart from these four things, these four perversities of American culture. For language, I would suggest that you practice listening to things only clean, and not listening to cursing. I myself hear cursing, and it can't be helped. But it's good to practice not watching things that have unclean words, or getting a box that bleeps out the swearing.

For the crassness, I suggest the same thing as swearing, as they have similar effects. Watch what you're watching, and watch pure shows.

As to immodesty, I suggest that if you are a young man, that you turn your head. I have had to do this many times, and will for the rest of my life.

As for violence in commercials, I have found the off button on remotes is quite handy. Switch the channel, or turn off the TV when a violent commercial comes on. It's not just you you're protecting, but your younger siblings, too.

One last thing that you can do... is pray for our nation. Our nation needs prayer, and God hears your prayers. Pray for America. That's about the most you can do.

Thank you for reading this long, long post. I appreciate your support. Sorry, Sam. I know you were rooting for Kristy. But I had to write about this.

One last thing... I have added links to Legochristian, Striker, and Sam. Please visit their sites!

Thanks again for reading this post!

~Nick
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• Feb. 3, 2008 - It's Rather Sad...

Posted in Serious
I guess that since tonight is the Superbowl, I should do a post relevant to what's going on. This will be a picture post, so for those of you who can't see the photos, I'll put name over [or under] the picture. That way you'll understand what I'm saying.

This
post is about how seriously America takes entertainment. I find it silly to see how un-prioritized they are! It's really kinda' sad, actually. You'll understand what I mean when I'm finished with this post...




How many of you know this guy? His name is Steve Martin. He's a very popular and famous actor.



How about Him? His name is peyton Manning. He's a famous football player.

 

A lesser known guy; this is Matt Thiessen, a famous singer in the band Relient K.




How many of you guys know this girl? Her name is Carrie Underwood. She's a famous singer.



But...

How many of you know this guy?



Or that guy???



--------------------------

I did a little research, and found out the salary of each one of these groups of people that I've provided a picture for:



Steve Martin: Steve got $25 million for the movie he made; the pink panther
peyton Manning: $19 million a year
Carrie Underwood-$5.5 million for the CD she made; Carnival ride
{Sorry, but Matt isn't popular enough, couldn't find his salary...}

------------------------------------------------------

Cop: $77 Thousand a year
Soldier: $42,376


As this post shows, America obviously values her entertainment way more than her protection. Many people are going out of their homes and comfort zones and risking their lives to protect us; and they're not paid nearly as much as someone who walks up onto a stage and makes us laugh, or someone who walks out into a field to entertain us; or even someone to stand up on a stage to sing and entertain us. It's really sad; but the facts are as clear as day: America values the jobs of their entertainers far more than that of those who work hard to protect her. And I'm sure every one of you could at least look at one of the first pictures I posted and be able to recognize the person. Yet how many of you recognized the cop or the army guy?

There's not much you can do about this; and this is not  a message saying that you should change. I guess I just wanted to give you something to think about when you sit on the couch with a bowl of chips, while watching expensive entertainment.

~Nick

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• Nov. 23, 2007 - Thanks be to God, and then to the Bs, and then to Matt W...

Posted in Serious

Well, I just wanted to share something with you (this is a serious post, not a funny one...). The Lord (God, the man upstairs...) has provided for my family over and over again. Just four months ago, my family moved to Indiana (we used to live in Michigan). About a month or two after moving, my Mom (Bruce) met a Homeschooling family named the Bs.

Well, another month and it was getting near time for Mom to have the baby. Oh yeah, and for those of you who don't know, my Dad (Rhubarb) is currently unemployed. Since we moved from MI, he's been looking for a job. Anyways... about this time, the B family decided that they would share some vegetables with us. So, we receieved from them two humungus baskets of vegetables, along with several bags of lettuce and spinach. A few weeks later, we received another basket of veggies, and several more bags of spinach and lettuce. 

Well, it was nearly a month later, and Bruce had had the baby (Banana). Well, the day Bruce and Banana came home, Mr. B took my brother Antiphilobe and I to slaughter a turkey for Thanksgiving (another gift). But we did not just take home a turkey. In addition to this, Mrs. B sent home with Antiphilobe and I a huge (and when I say huge, think, Soupzilla!) pot of soup, two pans of apple crisp, and two bags of lettuce and spinach. When I got home, I found that the pastor (Matt W) of the General Baptist church up the road from my house had just dropped off two humungo baskets of food (donated by himself and the community) for us.

Two days later, Mr. B-who, besides from being a farmer, also is a pastor, a mail-man, and a martial arts guy-had just done a funeral for someone who died, and had lots of food left over, decided to give the remaining funeral dinner to us. We seriously filled up about eight box-fulls of food. So, we had the Bs over for dinner, to say thanks for being so generous. It was a blast! We ate dinner, and then the Bs children, Montana (eight) and Elizabeth (11), played a game called, Udderball with us.

Well, as the title says... Thanks be to God, and then to the Bs, and then to Matt W...

Oh yes, and I cannot forget to thank the F family, and all that they have done for me and my family. For those of you who don't know... (all of you...) the F family is another family who has been very kind to my family after we moved... they have brought us food after the baby was born, and has allowed me and my siblings to come to her house for long periods of time (though she hardly knows us...). So, thanks to all the families mentioned! You have been a great help to us!

~Grelb

Comments ( 1 ) :: Permanent Link

• Nov. 20, 2007 - Broccoli

Posted in Serious
Well, Mom just had her new baby! She's a girl, and her name is Mariam Annaliese (I think that's how you spell it...), and she weights 7 pounds 8 ounces. She is 21 inches long, and has dark brown hair. She was born on the 19th of November, at 12:15 a.m. She's so adorable, and really tiny! She looks alot like my sister Tiko...

She came home from the hospital today. It was really exciting! I will attempt to post some pictures later. I don't have them with me right now, but I'll try to get some.

PART II---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just had to add this part...

Today I got to clean a turkey. A Homeschooling Dad who lives in the country (he has a farm) allowed my brother Antiphilobe and I to go and pick out a turkey for Thanksgiving. I will quote a passage from my source book:

"The fowl's legs were snatched from asunder, it was picked up by Grelb. Grelb picked up the foul by the feet, and its wings flapped terribly. The creature's feet were held, and his head was put atop a table. Then, the farmer, with a terrible great-hatchet, with a three great blows, cloved asunder the creature's head. The creature then flapped it's wings, and Grelb held on. Eventually, the creature stopped flapping."

After that, we cleaned the turkey, and stuck it in a roaster to be, well, roasted.

I guess that's about all for now.

Hasta Lasagna!
Comments ( 4 ) :: Permanent Link

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"Yes, life is tough, and suffering builds character. Nothing worth having ever comes easy. Virtue is its own reward. And when I was your age..."

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