Steampunk!
I was reading on Newsweek's website, and I came across an article on an awesome new subculture, called steampunk. This culture is in love with the beauty of bulky industrial era machines and the ideas of modern technology and even futuristic technology that are instilled in the work of Jules Verne and other great writers. Everywere from anime, to Disney's Atlantis, to The Time Machine, one can see that the ideas of hand built machinary marked by humanity and futuristic what-if type technology have mezmorized people for hundreds of years. Check out the awesome art of changing modern items into Victorian pieces!

I think we should Americanize the entire world.
Everyone gasps...
I think that most sound minded people would probably be against this proposition. Especially as Christians, we are becoming more and more conscious of that fact that we should change the culture as little as possible in reaching into new cultures. This is extremely true and does need to be implimented.
What I am saying is that America is much more than a place, economy, government, or people. In no other place in history has such a diverse group of people experianced the freedoms we do, and never to such magnitude. This country represents more than any of the afore mentioned things, America is a cause. America is a symbol of stable living for millions of people around the world. Though we seldom realize it, America is a symbol of a human accomplishment which many throughout history never thought could happen, especially in a democracy. What other nation in world history has produced soldiers that would go across oceans to liberate other nations when they were in no immediate danger themselves? American soldiers traveled and died in every other part of the world, liberating Europeans, Africans, Asians, and others, and attempting to share the prosperity we have discovered in our system.
By Americanizing the world, I mean people everywere have been given rights by God, rights to freedom of religion, freedom of economy, freedom to know the truth (media), and others which we take for granted, which no one living before America was created ever had the chance to truly experiance.
People have been given these rights by God, and no man has the right to decide if they apply or not.

Ok, so I'm going to be pretty straightforward about a few things.
I was reading in Galatians 4, were Paul is saying that the Galatians should not live like the world because they are different from the world. He uses the analogy of Christians being the children of God just like the heir to a household is not like a slave. He says that they are both the same when they are young (aka- before conversion) but they are set on different paths and when they grow up, one will just be a slave, the other will recieve a great inheritance.
It breaks my heart. I think we can all say that in this culture we have all seen some pretty explicit things. Whether we are looking for it or not, pornographic images pour out of our televisions, computers, and pretty much any public venue.
This pornographic nature has radically burgeoned in these past 15 years or so, with the internet and increased connectivity. It is crazy to think that the things kids are used to seeing and the things people can easily access were much harder to get to only 20 years ago. Thus, more innocent and those who would never fall into these addictions are tempted by things they don't even really desire or totally understand. It is one thing for a young adult to live promiscuously, this has been going on since the Bible, but not children are faced with accidental encounters daily all over the internet, creating sin desires they don't even comprehend. I am most positive that this development that has started with my generation will be found to have negative reprocussions that no one can fathom at this point.
But back to Galatians, my heart is broken both for the Christians and the unsaved. It is sad to see so many Christians living below their means. In financial terms, this is far from the truth. But on a spiritual level, it seems that most Christians don't understand the truth this passage speaks. These sinful world-likenesses that we pursue are not what we want. We are trained and enticed to be happy as slaves! But there is something more, freedom with an inheritance. If we could come to understand this, we could show others...
Which leads me to say that I am utterly broken for the people, especially girls, of this modern age. By simply perusing myspace or bebo, one can immediately seen people living for and endorsing that which is enslaving and killing them. These things are not what people truly want, or want to be, but only the closest thing they have found. My heart bleeds for the generations that live staring at eachother, wishing for something more.

And while the slaves try to convince each other that what they have is what they want, the heirs simple watch, licking there lips in desire and anticipation of the great thrills they see in slavery...

It is always a great encouragement to see ways in which God is moving in individual lives and giving them the influence to create or encourage radical change in the lives of others around them... I really just say this because I wish to pass along some great links to sites that encourage me in my walk and in seeing that God is moving in global ways all around us. In my missions class, my professor has taught us that when we go into a country to church plant, we should not ask ourselves "what we can do to reach the people there with the gospel?", but instead "what will it take?" It is much different when we put everything solely in God's hands, we don't have to try to accomplish everything on our own and we can begin with the ends we want to accomplish instead of looking at the means we feel we have as options. This is something we should be doing no matter where we are. It should be translated into our decisions about life in general, asking not "what can I do to make my life better or obey God?" but instead "what is it that the Bible spells out and shows me I need to be and do?" If we figure out were things need to get to and are faithful while relying on God first, it is much easier to see God's work accomplished.
Anyway... those sites I spoke of...
An Awesome Book I Want To Read
A Cool Blog
A Christian Design Studio

The Great Disconnect
In studying the over the passage we discussed this previous Sunday evening at a youth group which I regularly help out with, a lot about myself was really revealed to me. It was simply putting into words what I have been avoiding realizing for a long time now. Galatians 2 is really a pretty crazy passage once you figure out the entire context of the situation. Paul is basically telling of how he had to call out the hypocritical lifestyle by which Peter, who was one of the original leaders before Paul. Think about it, the passage starts with Paul talking about how they are still getting used to the fact that he is a Christian and to his ministry to the gentiles, and then a few verses later, he is calling out one of the original few closest to Jesus. While Paul is pointing out the way in which Peter acts like the gentiles until the Jews come around, then he aligns himself with them in trying to unnecessarily change the gentile lifestyle.
I find application of this in a tangent way in my own life. Though it may not seem to flow directly from the text, I have no doubt that God meant to teach me this through this reading... I have been living a hypocritical lifestyle. I am truly excited about things like politics, philosophy, theology, apologetics, history, and even missions. But the Great Disconnect lies in the fact that although I love the idea of making a difference for God, I continue to pay less and less attention to my relationship with Him. I feel akin to St. Augustine in that when he came to respect Christianity on an intellectual level, he knew he could not yet become a Christian because he understood that there was more to it, which is one important factor setting it apart from other world religions. Although I am a Christian, I am missing out on the most significant part of this designation, the person daily involvement of deity in my personal life. This disconnect is were vital change must begin.

Check out this interesting application that maps out the historical growth patterns of the major world religions! Click here!