Mark is getting PUBLISHED!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited.

My 8:10 class

"Meaningless! Meaningless!"

       says the Teacher.

       "Utterly meaningless!

       Everything is meaningless."

    Ecclesiastes 1:2

That's just a cheerful way to start your day, thank you Nugent......

   So, as Christians, our lives have meaning in Christ.  That's a bonus, because we don't have to deal with that whole "life is pointless" thing.  We can get a lot out of Ecclesiastes that helps us as Christians.  It helps us understand and deal with injustice.  It shows us our need for God.  In fact, it shows us how we're wired for God, that  there's something innate in our nature that tells us that something is massively wrong with the way the world works.  Bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people.  In Ecclesiastes, we learn that this is nothing new.  In fact, nothing is new.  But, the thing that makes all of this ok is the fact that God has everything well in hand  and we have hope of eternal life through Christ.
   But, what happens to those who don't have that hope?  What happens to someone who isn't confident in God?  They look around, and see that the world doesn't make any sense, and it's unfair, pointless, miserable, and meaningless.  They are trapped in their own hopelessness.
     What can we do for someone trapped like that?  How can we give hope to the hopeless?  Obviously, Christ is the answer, as He is our hope, so He must be hope to everyone.  But what if the trapped person doesn't think that Christ is the answer?  What if they're convinced that they have sinned too much for Christ to possibly forgive them?  If they are so convinced of their own wickedness that they don't believe that God Himself is capable of making it better, what can be done to show them the truth?  I know that it's not on me to save these people, that is something that only God can do.  But, what happens when they choose to ignore God?  If they won't accept the hope God offers, then there's nothing left for us to do, right?  We've done all we can, left the important part to God, and the person has turned Him down.  That's their choice, so that should be the end of the matter, right?  Then tell me, why does it hurt to watch it?  Why can we not give up on these people?  We see them trapped in hopelessness, we see them turn down the only One who can save them, and we can't let it go.  Are we then just doomed to ache over it unless they change their minds?  The only thing I can come up with is that all amounts of aching would be completely worth it if they did change their minds. 
   So yeah, I guess we're stuck.  We're gonna ache when we see someone trapped in hopelessness.  But the good news is that there's a point to it -- they might be saved.

I love my husband.  Really, really a lot!  Cuz he's great! 

Just thought you should know. 

Nursery attack in Dayton Ohio

           On September 26th in Dayton, Ohio, a 10 year old girl was working in the nursery at a prayer service when two men came to the window and sprayed her in the face with some unidentified chemical.  This chemical spread from the nursery and emptied the service of some 300 people.
           This incident did not make the news outside of Dayton.  The police are saying that it's not a hate crime, but they're failing to come up with any kind of motive.  They appear to have no leads, and from the tone of the Dayton Daily News' latest article, it sounds like there might not even be any more media followup.
           I want to know why this didn't make the news.  I want to know why no one is talking about this, and why seemingly no one is disturbed by this.
           My personal opinion is that if this had happened at a public school, it would be all over the news.  I think that if it had happened at a grocery store, it would be all over the news.   I think that if it had happened at a church, it would be all over the news.  But, it happened in a Mosque, and somehow, nobody is reporting on it.
            In an age where we are constantly looking out for terrorism, be it biological, chemical, or anything, how is it that we can ignore an attack on a nursery?

Read the articles for yourself:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/27/ddn092608evacweb.html

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/29/ddn092908mosquefoloweb.html

So, I've been thinking about school a lot, seeing as how it's back in session.  This is my junior year, and I've had to declare my major (or rather in my case, majors) and now I'm done with gen-eds, so every class I have has a point.  That is, at least it should.  The thing is that I really don't feel like some of my classes matter.  In fact, I can't see how one of my majors will help me later on.  I don't need this degree.  See, I'm double majoring in Bible Theology and Cross-Cultural Ministries, but that's not what I want to be when I grow up.  I want to work in churches, I want to do short-term missions, but most of all, I want to be a stay at home mom.  So, I need to look at what will best equipp me to do that.  What will teach me how to live according to Christ?  My CCM classes don't teach me anything I don't already know.   I love Kendi, and one of the nice things about her classes is that a good chunk of them are repetitive, but at this stage in the game, it just causes frustration for me.  She also does a phenomenal job of teaching us how to contextualize our faith.  The problem is, I can contextualize my faith really well, but I have difficulties sometimes seeing the line between contextualizing and compromising.  She never talks about the problem of compromising one's faith in the name of contextualizing.  What I need right now are classes that teach me how to be effective for God in everyday life.  The classes I remember doing that were George's.  But, in doing the double major, I simply don't have time to take any of his classes.

               So now, I feel like I'm wasting time and money working toward a degree that I don't need and won't use, all the while missing out on classes that are more worth my time and money.  So I'm left with a choice - keep working on my double major, just so I have two degrees and end up lacking knowledge that I need for life, or drop my CCM major, and take classes that make me a better human being………..the question is, do I really want to take the flak for dropping a major?