Fist in the Air

Return of the Blog

2011-10-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,
In case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged in forever. Like, years. But, there's no need to fear! In just a few short weeks, I will be back. In case you didn't know, I'm moving to Russia soon. Therefore, I've decided to dedicate this blog to my more humorous musings, because I am most definitely not going to be able to vent them in Russia. However, if you do want to know what's actually going on in my life, you can mosey on over to my new Russia blog at www.ayellowbluebus.tumblr.com. Other than that, here's my latest thought:

The other day, Israel and Palestine had a prisoner swap. In exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, Israel received one prisoner in return. That's right. One prisoner for a thousand. Israel, I hate to say it, but you guys got Jewed.

Joplin Tornado

2011-06-01T08:25:00.001-07:00

There are some things in life that will be incredibly hard to describe, not because they are uncomprehendable, but because there is nothing else in the world by which they can be compared. What has been seen in Joplin over the past few days is one of these things. The aftermath of Joplin’s tornado seems like something out of a movie or fantasy, and the only things that compare to it are things that people have only ever seen in their imaginations. The things we thought could never happen have happened.
Yet, through all of this, there is hope. While we may not be able to find an adequate comparison for the destruction created by the tornado, the people of Joplin are a different story. The citizens here have taken on the persona of an ant colony, who, upon having their anthill destroyed by a rainstorm, immediately begins its reconstruction. While Joplin may look like a city torn apart, the people that reside here are a living testament that this city’s vitality is found not in the misfortunes of its people, but in their dedication to one another as a community. It may be true that Joplin is down, but we are far from out. We are one city. We are one spirit. We are Joplin.

A Perfect Storm

2011-04-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Every year, Lake Superior State University creates a list of words or phrases that should be banned from the English language because of overuse. As I was reading this list the other day, I saw that as of 2008, the phrase "perfect storm" had been added to the list. The thought process behind this addition went something like this: because so many people used "perfect storm" to incorrectly describe situations that turned out to not be perfect storms, the emphasis behind the phrase "perfect storm" had lost its value.

Needless to say, my friends and I were dumbfounded. How could the proud speakers of the English language neglectfully let something of this magnitude pass by? It was a shame, for sure. Seeing that this was a time that called for desperate action, my brave friends and I took it upon ourselves to answer this call in order that we might restore the former glory and dignity of this beloved phrase, and while it was by no means an easy journey, we firmly believe that we have arrived at a true perfect storm.

The Perfect Storm:
Every year, Ozark issues a student directly that has come to be known by many as "The Wishbook." It was given this name because legend has it that the girl on campus had a tradition of going through the book and circling the pictures of guys that they wished to date or marry...or just kiss.
While the Wishbook is no doubt still used in this way, advances in modern technology have allowed the Wishbook to serve a new purpose that dwarfs its original intent; it provides cell-phone numbers! That's right. Not only does the Wishbook provide pictures of your potential soulmates, but it also provides an effective way to reach them! It's a dream come true!

Unfortunately, this is where the perfect storm begins to arise. You see, while the Wishbook's database of love provides you with the number of your future one and only, you are automatically labeled a creeper the moment you use it. No matter what you try, you aren't going to be able to hide the fact that you were too chicken to personally ask your person of interest for his or her number.

So, as you can see, it seems that we have finally found a true and legitimate perfect storm. Of course, this is more of a perfect storm for guys than girls, because we guys don't really care how you get our number; we're just thrilled you're calling...

Or at least I am.

Amazing Grace

2010-12-25T11:57:00.001-08:00

If I had a girlfriend that cheated on me as much as I've cheated on God, I would break up with her. Thank God for grace.

Russian Wilderness Camp

2010-07-12T00:02:00.001-07:00

So this week, I've been at Russian Church camp. I think I can say hands down that this was one of the roughest adventures I have ever been a part of. First off, I need to explain Russian church camp. This is not your typical camp. To even get to this camp, you have to take a ferry up the Volga River, then you walk a quarter of the mile through the woods to another river. Once you find a good place to settle, you begin digging holes…and lots of them. You dig holes for the giant tent, you dig holes to store food, you dig holes to store trash, and you dig holes to store poop. Now being that it was probably only 84 degrees, you wouldn't think that would be that bad. Wrong! You forgot that the sun is up for 22 hours at a time during the Russian summer, so it's hot aaaallll day long. On top of that, there are horseflies everywhere. I have never seen so many. I could wave my hand and I would be guaranteed to swat at least 3 or 4. On the Brightside, they only bit you if you were wet and/or sweating. On the downside, you were always wet or sweating. Luckily, horseflies only bite when it is light out. What a relief. Of course, once the sun goes down, the mosquitoes come out and they don't care if you're wet or not.

I encountered some interesting animals at camp. First, our camp was raided by hedgehogs. That's right: Hedgehogs. I didn't even know these lived in Russia. They come out at night and search for anything sweet that they can find. They're actually pretty friendly and even let you pick them up. I should have a picture of one of the hedgehogs we caught up on facebook shortly.

The second animal is not so cute and cuddly. The Russians call it medvyetka, which sounds a little bit like "earth bear" in Russian. The English name for it is "mole cricket" but since I had never seen one, I was a bit caught off guard. Here's a picture of this ferocious looking creature. The one in our tent was about 3 inches long and looked like some creature from outer space. Apparently, they live underground and eat root crops, such as potatoes, beets, and carrots. I hope to never see one again.

I have to get going, but hopefully I'll be able to blog again soon.

Until then,

Connor

Cheesin’ it up.

2010-07-04T08:27:00.001-07:00

Happy Fourth of July everybody! It's strange being in a place where that has no significance. I dunno though. I don't know that I ever did anything big for the fourth anyway other than blow some stuff up.

Today I learned a very important phrase. "Ya hachoo yest." Usually this would mean "I am hungry" but I think the Russians interpret it as "Hello, I am an American who speaks no Russian. For the protection of my well being, would you please drop what you are doing and take me to the nearest market so that I may get some food to eat? If you don't, I may starve to death and since we just arrested several of your spies, I'm pretty sure you don't want to be caught my blood on your hands. Thank you." However, today is my lucky day. It seems I found a market where I have to know very little English in order to get my supplies…or so I thought. I was shop-shop-shopping along, picking out meats and fruits and putting them in my basket when all of the sudden I came to the cheese section. For those who have never shopped at an open market in Europe, you may not see this as a big deal. You, my friends, are wrong. I have learned that America does not know its cheeses. Also, American cheese is not a legitimate name for any cheese sold in Russia. Don't even suggest such a preposterous thing to a clerk. They'll probably give you the "Do we look like we import our cheese from America?" look, and walk away.

Now, some of you may know what kind of cheese you want and the Russian name for it. You may even consider yourself a cheese wiz. (That one's for free) But if you are one of these lucky people, you're not out of the woods yet. Noooo sir! See, in Russia cheese is not sold by the slice or by the pound, it is sold by the kilogram. The only thing I knew Kilograms were used for was measuring cocaine and heroin, so I really have no experience with it. It was at this point that I could make one of two decisions: buy the entire cheese wheel and be done with it, or get help. Luckily some of my Russian friends were also at this particular market, so I had some people to share my cheese wheel with.

In other news, I'm taking a river ferry up the Volga River Wednesday for a church camp. Yep, I'm gonna convert ole' Tinkerbelle.

Yours truly,

Connor

From Russia with Love…again.

2010-07-03T02:07:00.001-07:00

Hello again,

It's been like 2000 years since I last posted something, so I apologize for keeping you all on edge. In case you didn't already know, I got on a plane the other day and flew to Russia. It's a twelve hour flight, which is terrible just thinking about it. I usually get a little sleep on the plane but this time I was sitting next to an old Russian woman who kept poking me and asking me "Student?" over and over. If that wasn't enough, she would start rubbing my arms because she thought I was cold. I didn't know how to explain that my hands always shake even when I'm not cold, so I just toughed it out. When I got off the plane, the person that was supposed to pick me up was two hours late because of construction. I wasn't too worried, but the taxi drivers who were standing around kept saying "Your friend probably fall asleep wheel of car. He is not coming. Maybe taxi take you where you need, yah?" When I told them I needed to go five hours away, they pretended to not know anymore English. Shortly thereafter, my friend came and we left for Kostroma, but not before I gave the taxi drivers a "told you so" look. Those are always nice.

So now I'm chillin' here in Kostroma, Russia, about five hours northeast of Moscow. This puts it on the same latitudinal lines as Alaska meaning the sun sets here about midnight and rises around two in the morning. It's something else. I spent yesterday at an English camp hanging with kids and signing autographs. I signed about 46, but who's keeping count? It was pretty cool.

That's about all for now. In about a week, we're setting off for some sort of wilderness Bible camp. Some of the guys here made some awesome toilets consisting of plywood with guitar-pick shaped holes in them. The holes are bigger than guitar picks though. I also get to do a sermon on Wednesday for them. That'll be interesting. I've done very few sermons and absolutely none where I needed a translator, so be praying for that. I tend to use a lot of slang, which is a nightmare for translators. It's probably the equivalent of typing an essay and randomly throwing in Wingdings font.

Well, that's about it for now on my update. I'll post again every now and then, so stay tuned for more!

Your friend,

Connor

Personal PDA Part 2

2010-02-26T10:23:00.000-08:00

Assumed Truth #3 Making out does not involve any emotional attachment and does not carry into other relationships.
This is a tricky statement and the answer will change depend on who is being answered. For this blogs purpose, my answer is directed at Christian couples. If someone feels that I am wrong though, feel free to comment it up and offer another opinion, granted that you can back it up.
I would say, yes, making out does involve emotional attachment and here’s why: You wouldn’t just walk up to a complete stranger and start making out with them, would you? Probably not. You haven’t built a relationship of any sort with them. The same thing goes for most of your friends. You wouldn’t randomly make out with them because you don’t have that kind of relationship. When it comes to the person you are dating however, you probably have some sort of trust built up with them. What you are doing is something that you only do with this person because you are committed to them. There is some sort of connection.
(I’m going to go ahead and write this like I was talking to a guy, because I’m running out of neuter pronouns to use to refer to dates. However, the general post still refers to both guys and girls.)
So, what happens if you and your girlfriend break up? You’ll probably be upset, but over time you’ll find someone new and eventually you’re going to find yourself in the same position that you were in with your last girlfriend; making out on the student center couch. But now you have a problem. What happens when you want to show your girlfriend that she is more special to you than anyone you’ve dated? You’re going to have to do something different than you did with your previous relationship, and since your new girlfriend saw what you did with your last date, there could be some issues. First off, your date could expect that since you made-out with your last girlfriend in public, you are going to expect the same thing from her. Secondly, she may expect the same from you.
What do you do now? How can you show your girlfriend that while she means more to you than your previous girlfriend(s) without taking things as far physically? Show her respect! Your previous relationships all have one thing in common; they all failed. So show your girlfriend that she means enough to you to change the way you were handling your past relationships. This can also be used as a warning sign to anyone entering a relationship. If the person you just started dating is treating you the way he or she treated the last person they dated, get out. You deserve someone who’s willing to change what they are doing when what they are doing fails.

Personal PDA Part I

2010-02-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I wrote a completely serious post, but I feel like this is something that should be addressed. It seems that on campus, we have some couples that are notorious for their copious amounts of PDA. And by PDA, I mean making out. I’m not going to call anyone out, but if you think that you could be one of these people, I encourage you to read on. This article is not intended to shame or scold anyone. Rather, it is intended to give you a glimpse from a perspective of someone other than yourself, the maker-outer. Since you actively partake in this activity, I will assume that you have assumed some things about it. If these things are true, then I apologize for this note. However, if what I say holds any truth, I ask you to please reconsider the way you are acting toward your significant other.

Assumed Truth #1: The more PDA you show your significant other, the more people see how much you love and care for them.

There are two parts two this assumed truth (AT). Sometimes PDA does in fact make others think that you care about your loved one, but these are things such as holding hands and the occasional kiss or hug. These things are a nice way of letting them know that you care about them and that while you may be watching TV or getting ready to head out, they are still in your thoughts.

However, a student center or lobby make-out session does not say this. Actually, it tends to lead people to take your relationship less seriously. If you can’t keep yourself under control in the presence of others, people naturally assume that you definitely can’t keep yourself under control when you are by yourselves. Believe it or not, there is more to a relationship than making out with the person you are dating and if you can’t prove that to us, then why should we not see your relationship as a joke?

Assumed Truth #2: Making out in public is not disrespectful.

I’m going to direct this one at the guys. You know how your brain works. Would you want another guy imagining himself doing the same thing with your girl that you are doing with her on the couch? No? Then don’t give him a front row seat to the show. If you want other guys to treat your girl with respect, then you had better be the one setting the example.

Ladies, you should also remember this. If your man knows how guys think and still chooses to continue in how he’s treating you, you should be careful. You’re on your way to becoming a piece of meat.

Reality Television: Either/or

2010-02-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

"I can't believe he is dating her!" "She could do so much better than him." "Her?"
Before even giving you the contexts of those sentences, you've probably already applied them to a couple that you know. If that's the case, I bet that in two guesses, I can tell you where you are. You are either a show on Prime Time, or you are living on the campus of Ozark Christian College. (If you are the former, I'll even go ahead and put money on you being in a show on the CW. Dang, I'm good!)
If you are of the latter group, then you are shallow. *Gasps!* "What! Oh no he ditn't!"
You're right. That's a bit harsh. Let me rephrase that. If your views on relationships reflect the views of the people on TV, you are shallow.
If you think I'm still being harsh, then let me give you a story. For our story, we're going to need two main characters; a guy and a girl. The guy, John, isn't really the best looking guy and while he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, he's a little socially awkward. The girl, Jane, is a gorgeous redhead who is also one of the nicest girls you'll ever meet. If given the chance, almost every guy on campus would like to take her out on a date.
John and Jane have had a few classes together over the semesters and while they aren't quite friends, they're more than acquaintances. One day, John gets the crazy idea to buck up and ask Jane on a date. To everyone's surprise, Jane says yes! John is estatic. I mean, he wasn't expecting her to say yes; He was just asking to show himself that he wasn't a chicken.
Jane and John go on their date, and eventually they get married and lived happier ever after. They couldn't be happier.

Unfortunately, there's another side to this story. You see, the people that live on campus know the truth. All of Jane's friends know that she could have dated any guy on campus. It's just that she's so darn nice! When John asked her on a date, she couldn't bring herself to say no. As they started dating, she knew that she could do better, but she just couldn't break poor Johnny's heart. That would be terrible. As the dates continued, Jane eventually talked herself into liking John so that she thought he was the only one for her.
As for John, shame on him! He knew that Jane wouldn't be able to turn him down, so he totally played her emotions. He knew it was only a matter of time before she would play into her guilt and marry him. What a scumbag!

So, what have we learned? Above average people do not fall in love with average people unless there is something strange afoot. It's only natural that good-looking nice people will wind up with good-looking nice people. Perfect attracts perfect. Always has, always will...
...if you're shallow! j/k j/k...(I mean, I'm kidding if you're kidding)

In all seriousness though, what has happened to us? While I'm sure that some people do not fall into this category, we all know that the majority of us do. When did we, the students at OCC, take something that we knew to be fake and label it as reality? It's almost like we've forgotten the greatest love story of all time! A perfect savior came and died for imperfect people so that they could be with him forever! And yet we find ourselves at this point, believing that perfect endings only come from perfect people, when in reality the perfect ending was made for the imperfect people.
While I don't expect there to be a huge change in response to this blog, I do hope that you'll remember that the most imperfect relationship of all time became the most perfect.

A big ole metaphor

2010-01-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

Today I'm going to write something on which I know nothing about: Romantic Relationships. However, I do know a thing or two about animals. So, I'm going to cleverly blend the two topics together and hopefully you'll be able to catch my drift.

I don't know if you've ever used a raccoon trap, but here's how one old type works (If you ever read Where the Red Fern Grows, you may have heard of this before.). You have a noose-like contraption with a piece of food, or a shiny object in it. The raccoon comes and grabs the piece of food and BAM!, the noose fastens around his hand. Here's the thing; all the raccoon has to do to escape is let go of the piece of food! Unfortunately, raccoons can be quite greedy, so they usually hold on until the trapper comes and shoots them.
Sometimes people are like raccoons. We see a piece of food that we want and we go for it, only to find that we can't have it. And like the raccoons, we often refuse to let go of this "food" that we can't have. Heck, sometimes other perfectly good pieces of food fall right next to us and all we'd have to do is let go of the one we think we just can't live without.
So, we hold on to this food for dear life and then all of the sudden IT GETS MARRIED! BOOM ROASTED! Now we don't have anything, do we? No sir ree bob! We should have let go a long time ago.
You drinkin' what I'm pourin' on this one? You buyin' what I'm sellin'? You scratchin' what I'm sniffin'? Yeah, I thought so.

Finding and Forming Faithful Foundations

2010-01-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

How'd you like that? An alliterative title! Gotcha hooked now don't I?!

I'm going to do something a little different today: I'm going to write a blog about myself. I mean, I technically do a lot of that already but I usually just use myself as the subject because if I directed them at particular individuals, I'd look like a big(ger) jerk. This blog, however, is genuinely directed at me and while you may not want to read something intended to my self, I encourage you to do so because I believe it to have value. I wish I would have remembered to put it into practice because it would have saved me a lot of trouble in the long run. With that being said:

I recently took a look at myself and was confronted with the possibility that I was not who I was supposed to be. I don't mean that I'm disappointed in who I am. I just mean that as I lived my life, something crucial was missing. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but as I thought about it, I began to catch on to a theme: I had no backup plan for my life. All that I had been building my life upon was temporary and when those things left me, I would have nothing left to hold me up. I would fall.
It was at this point that I realized I needed to rebuild from the ground up. When you build your foundation out of things that crumble and/or leave you, the things that you've built on top of your foundation will fall too. It's inevitable. I needed a new foundation; one that was permanent and unchanging. One that was like...God! (Actually, one that was God in case you thought I suddenly became a pluralist.)
So, here I am--rebuilding. With God as my foundation, I can use other things to build my life up. Some of these things may be what I previously constructed my foundation out of and that's ok; just because they are not what I am built upon anymore doesn't mean that they aren't important. For me, one of these things is friends, which can be helpful in keeping me on my foundation. I just need to be sure that I don't make them my foundation. While my friends are great, I have to accept that there may come times when they won't be able to help me and sometimes there may come a time when they do more to tear you away from your foundation than build you up. While it stinks to think about having to end a friendship, I know that sometimes change isn't as bad as it sounds. Besides, what house doesn't need a little remodeling from time to time?
Something I need to remember about my foundation is that I don't control it. There are things that I am going to want to put in my life that my foundation will not support and it is important that I accept this when I am in the building process. Think of houses that are built in earthquake zones. You're foundation is there to hold your house there safely, but if you build your house the wrong way or use the wrong materials, it will fall when put to the test. For my own safety, I need to remember to stay within the boundaries of my foundation. It can be the hardest part, especially for me*, but it is one of the most essential.
All in all, I think the notion of rebuilding has been a scary thing because I knew it wouldn't be easy. It's like getting a shot when you're a kid. You're super scared on your way to get the shot because you just know it's going to hurt like crazy, but once you get it you realize...it did. But now the hardest part is over. Now I just need to keep building.

*It has been said that I have control/authority issues.

2009-12-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

As I was walking around Wal-mart the other day, I made the realization that being a door greeter would be one of the hardest jobs to have this time of year. I mean, sure, cashiers have it rough with all of the last minute shoppers that forgot to buy gifts. And the stockers have it pretty rough too. But the door greeters…I think they’ve got it the hardest. You see, it’s this time each year that their two biggest critics come out: The Liberals and the Fundamentalist Christians, and they’ve been waiting all year to pounce on the poor door greeter.
Now, you may be wondering to yourself why anyone would want to go after a door greeter. I mean it’s their job to be nice and make people feel welcome during their shopping experience.
Well, I’m going to let you in on a little known secret. Greeters are one of the few accurate ways to tell the spirituality of a country. I tell no lies! They are indeed humanity’s spirit-o-meters.
Here’s how it works: If a greeter greets you with the greeting “Merry Christmas,” you can rest assured that our country is spiritually on track. However, if you are greeted with the alliterative “Happy Holidays,” you know that are country is currently morally defunct and those pesky liberals are winning.
If you think about it, this makes perfect sense because we all know that the spirituality of something is decided by whether or not the word “Christ” is somewhere in it…right?
Tricked you! Of course that’s not right! Yet year after year we hear this same argument. Should we use “Merry Christmas” or should we use “Happy Holidays?” Personally, I do not think it matters one way or another, but the arguments did get me thinking so I’ve decided to run with them. When people get offended at “Happy Holidays,” they generally assume that it is said because the person, or company the person works for, either doesn’t want to offend non-Christians, wants to make sure other religions that celebrate holidays in the winter aren’t excluded, or they simply aren’t Christians and don’t want to be associated with Christ. Oh, and they’re liberal. Don’t forget that.
So, here’s my question. What is the purpose of trying to get people who say “Happy Holidays” to say “Merry Christmas?” I mean, isn’t that like me telling everyone that I’m French? I can say the words all I want, but unless I move to France and apply for citizenship, I am still an American. It’s the same for people and spirituality. People can use any greeting they want, but unless they are living a life that matches their greeting, it doesn’t reflect them. Ultimately, it’s not a person’s greeting that needs to be changed. It’s the person’s heart, and once the heart is changed, a greeting from a door greeter won’t be necessary to tell how spiritual someone is. Their lives will do that.

Does this blog make me look fat?

2009-12-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

As the end of the year approaches, I've had some time to think about all the things that have gone in my life and what I've learned from them. As I look at myself compared to who I was last year, I think I can see some major positive changes. At the same time, I've noticed another change that I can't really say used to characterize me: Insecurity. Now everyone experiences insecurity of some sort, so I didn't find this too strange. What's strange to me is the people that I've come to find myself insecure around. It's not in groups of people that I don't know or people that I'm trying to impress; it's my closest friends.

At first, this didn't make any sense to me. Why would I feel insecure around the people that care the most about me? Something seems out of place. I know I shouldn't feel insecure around these people; but why?

The more I thought about it the more frustrated I became. These were the most important people in my life. I care more about them than anyone else but rather than enjoying my time with them all I seem to think about it how I might do something stupid and drive them away. This, in turn, makes me want to always make sure that I haven't done something to upset them. However, it doesn't take too many times of being asked if you're mad to drive a person to madness. So, I found myself in this constant circle of worry that I felt I could never get out of. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know how to fix it.

Let me give you a quick analogy. Imagine an old record player that gets stuck. The needle seemingly refuses to move, so the track just keeps repeating over and over again. Sometimes the needle will find its way back to where it belongs and it will continue its journey through the record. However, sometime the needle needs help. This was me.

For some reason I just kept going over the same path over and over again. Luckily, I have a few good friends that helped me get back on track.

They showed me, partially through example, that the reason I was afraid to disappoint the most important people in my life was because they were the most important people in my life.

What I had done is made my friends, not God, the most important people to me, and that was where I went wrong.

Making something the most important thing in your life is tricky for two reasons: one is that once you've placed something in the number one spot, you will do anything to keep it there. Second is that whenever you place something in the number one spot, you have to disregard what was previously there.

This is when I realized that I had done something very stupid. I had taken the one person who could help me through anything, the one person who knows my every need, the one person who loves me more than anyone else ever could, and I had replaced him with people who could never come close to any of those things. I knew that they were just people like me, yet I had placed them on this pedastal, thinking that if I didn't amount to what I felt was good enough for them, I was some sort of failure. I've come to realize that if I keep trying to compare myself to my friends, not only will I disappoint them, but they will disappoint me. My friends are some of the greatest people in the world, but they are not what I need the most. My God is.

Now that I know this, I've realized that until I've returned God to his rightful spot as the most important thing in my life, I will always feel like I something is wrong because my friends cannot give me everything that I need and I cannot give them everything I need. Only God can.

Running on Faith

2009-12-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

I recently overheard a story about how one of my friends was driving somewhere and was about to run out of gas. Apparently they couldn't find a gas station anywhere and they were getting really worried that they weren't going to make it to their destination. They finished their story with "Yeah, but I just ran on faith until I got to the gas station to refuel..."
Now, I'm not usually prone to making arguments out of nothing, but my following thought process went something like this: "If you were running on faith, why would you need to refuel? I mean, shoot, if my car could run on pure faith, I wouldn't even think about buying fuel again. Can you imagine the financial burden that would be lifted? I'd be driving all over the country! I'd go to the east coast, then the west...anyway, you get the point." However, I knew it was just a story, so I put my cynical attitude away and just laughed at the story...until now!
While I may not have realized it at the time, my question was somewhat valid. If I had the opportunity to use faith to make things happen, why wouldn't I? Let me rephrase the question: We have the opportunity to use faith to make things happen, so why don't we?!
That's right! We have the ability to tap into a power that makes things happen. And I don't mean little things. The Bible/Jesus (double whammy!) tells us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we can move mountains! Ok, so this may be a bit hyperbolic, but you get the point...or do you? As I think back on my prayer life over the years, I think of how weak it really is. I mean, basically, I pray for things that I know are going to happen anyway. "Dear God, please be with Johnny as he's driving home. Keep him safe, yatta yatta yatta..." (Do not misunderstand what I just said. Prayers of protection are important.) I pray for Johnny to make it home because I expect him to make it home safely anyway. It's likely that he will safely make it home, so I pray for this; and once again, there is nothing wrong with this. However, I feel that many times my prayers have stopped there. I don't ask God for anything truly spectacular because I feel like I'll probably be disappointed, and that's where I go wrong. Where is that in the Bible? "And upon the occassion that ye pray in earnest for something, be ye sure that it is something small, lest you want to be disappointed" -David 4:28 (That's not a real verse and it's not a real book of the Bible.) Actually, it's the opposite! Paul says in Ephesians 6:18 that we are to pray in the Spirit on all occassions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Jesus then tells us in John 14 that we can ask for anything in his name and he will do it. And again in Luke he tells us that whatever we ask for, we are to believe we will receive it and it will be ours. (Before I go on, I need to clear up that I am not blogging a health and wealth sermon. This verse doesn't mean go and ask to be rich. If you did that, God would just ask you to give it away, so don't even think about it you stinkers.)
As I looked at what God had to say about prayer, I began to wonder why I'm not praying like this. Then it hit me; I'm afraid. That's right. I'm afraid to pray.
Do you remember those times when you were a kid when you wanted to go do something but you knew if you asked your parents if you could they'd probably say no? Well I think that's what I feel a lot of time. If I ask God to do something crazy and he does it, I know that I'll have to submit to him. When I pray for Johnny to make it home safely, I know that he's probably going to make it home anyway. But, when I pray for my friend who is most likely going to die of cancer and he is miraculously healed, well, it's gonna be a lot harder to blame that one on something other than God. And if I see God at work because of things I asked for, I know that I will have no excuse when it comes time for me to be held accountable. If I have seen the power of God and still choose to ignore him, then I have no one left to blame but myself.
So, I think about all this and it does scare me. But it's not a permanent scared; It's a scared that I know I can change to praise. I have no reason to be scared because I have put my faith in the one who has the power to do anything and just happens to be the same one who died so that I could be with him forever. I know that it's a lot to grasps and I know that I don't have all the answers on what exactly I'm supposed to do, but I'm ok with that. I have faith.

By the way, this blog was brought to you in part by Jessie's blog, http://runningthroughmoments.blogspot.com/2009/12/as-seen-on-tv.html, which in turn was brought to you by Dave's blog, http://dheffren.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-search-of-swagger.html. You should also check out Chuck's block at http://butonaseriousnote.blogspot.com/.

"I get a thousand hugs..." Actually, you don't...

2009-11-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I heard this song by Owl City called "Fireflies" or something like that. I want to make it known that this fireflies song is rediculous. Think about it. How could you get 1,000 hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs? The minimum amount of hugs you could get from 10,000 lightning bugs is obviously 10,000.
Now, you may be thinking "Connor, he could be saying that he gets 1,000 hugs from EACH lightning bug."
Really? That's your argument? Allowing a 3 second timespan for each hug, that's 3,000 seconds of hugging per lightning bug and 30,000,000 seconds, or 500,000 minutes, or 8,333 minutes of hugging total. That means, in order for all these hugs to take place, he would have to be continually hugged for aproximately 347 days straight. Now, I'll admit that while this is highly unlikely, it is still somewhat plausible...except for one thing: Fireflies have a lifespan of two months. This poses a real problem doesn't it? Before all the fireflies would be able to hug Mr. Adam Young, they would be dead. Of course, you could try to say that their babies would continue this huggathon, but you forget that fireflies only reproduce in the spring and summer, so they would still die out in the winter.
The last argument for this is that they all hug him at once, but as we discussed, they'd each have to hug him for 3,000 a piece and if you had ten thousand lighnting bugs covering you for 3,000 seconds, you'd probably suffocate.

Oh You Can't Get To Heaven...

2009-10-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

I was going to title this blog post "Can You Take Me Higher" but I changed my mind because I'm pretty sure most of the world would quit reading this as soon as they saw a Creed reference. (Not that there's anything wrong with Creed, you haters!)
Anywho...
This semester I've been meeting with some Mormon friends that I met here on campus. We get together about once a week and talk about our religion and what and why we believe what we believe. This week I brought up the topic of Heaven, which unfortunately, is a subject that I rarely think about. For those of you who don't know, the Mormon's version of Heaven is slightly different than the typical evangelical view of Heaven and in order to better understand what I'm trying to say, it's important that you understand their view. So, let me take a minute to do my best to explain it as it was explained to me: God cares about you a ton and what he wants more than anything is for you to be happy. Because he loves us, he has given commands that, if you follow, will lead to happiness. Following these commands is our way of showing him that we love him. If we follow the commands really well, after we die, we will eventually go to Heaven. Now "heaven" is a tricky term. We are not all going to the same heaven. There are three different "heavens" that we can go to, each one a little better than the next. We are sent to these heavens based on how well we follow God's commands. The top level of heaven is where God is. This is where we will be in his presence and be forever happy. Anything our heart desires, we will receive because God will hold nothing back from us. So, let's say I want to have a million guitars (I actually used that example when trying to understand this) and jam out for eternity, I would get my guitars and eternal jam session if that is what made me happy. This is what we are aiming for. God will give us anything we desire because seeing us happy is what makes him happy and as long as everyone's happy, it's all good.
After they finished explaining all this to me, I sat there quietly thinking about what they had just told me. I mean, I can see how this would be an enticing view. If I obey some rules, I get to have whatever my heart desires for all eternity. That's not to shabby.
Or is it?
I don't think they had many people that didn't like this view of heaven, because they seemed somewhat dumbfounded when I finally gave them a response.
"I don't think I'd want guitars for eternity."
"Well then just think of something else. What makes you happy Connor?"
I've never thought much about this question because it's usually only asked hypothetically and I know I'm never going to get what I want because it's something stupid like wanting some girl to like me or having an endless supply of something that I really don't need.
"I don't know..." I said. How pathetic, I thought. I don't even know what would make me happy? Geez. It's me! Connor! How do you not know what make yourself happy...lahoo zaher. But as I continued to think about it I realized that it wasn't actually that pathetic of an answer. I mean, yeah, I like guitars, but if my reward was an eternity of guitar playing, I think I'd be disappointed. So I tried to think of what I do now that I like better than playing guitar. After listing off some stuff, I realized what it was. Friends. Good friends. There's nothing I would rather do than spend time with my good friends and ultimately I think it's like that for about everyone. We would rather spend time with the people that we love more than anything. I gave them the illustration of a girlfriend. (They didn't know I didn't have a girlfriend, so this worked a lot better with them than it will with you I'm sure, but just play along) Let's say that I have a girlfriend, or even a wife, and I love her. Now, if I was given the choice between getting a new guitar and equipment or getting to spend time with my wife and letting her know that I love her, without hesitation I am going to choose spending time with my wife. The guitar is nice, but it's not real. I doesn't know I love it. At the end of the day, I'm alone with a guitar that doesn't reciprocate my love. And it's the same for my friends. If I had to choose between a friend and some item, I'd be a fool to choose the item. It's not going to last. It doesn't have my back. It doesn't love me in return.
Then it clicked...
That's what I look forward to in Heaven. That's what I want out of Heaven. I don't care about some dumb guitars. I want to spend eternity with God. Anything else would be stupid to me. It seems like wanting to go to Heaven for any other reason would be a slap in the face to God. He loves us. I mean, shoot, he created us just to be with us! He spoke us into existence and when we messed up, He came down to our level and died for us just so that he would still have the chance to be with us! I have some pretty good friends in my life that would do almost anything for me, but they don't even begin to compare to that. When I get to Heaven, I can't think of anything else that would even begin to compare to the thrill of spending time with the one who gave it all for me.
So, while we never came to an agreement about our beliefs, I can say that I did find out what makes me happy.
Peter Pan would be proud.

The One That Got Away...

2009-10-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

Two summers ago, I was on Ozark Camp Teams and had the opportunity to serve out by the west coast. While there, I met a girl that changed my life. For the first time in writing, this is the story. The names and facts have been changed to make the story more interesting.

It all starts with a girl that we'll call Angie. Angie was from Hope International University out in Cali and happened to be working at the same camp that my team was working at. She worked out at the archery stand with me in the day, which turned out to be really convenient. You see, if you are like me, you probably pictured California as really warm. So naturally, I packed shorts for the week. However, we were in Northern California and it actually gets quite chilly. Luckily for me, Angie was pretty hot and I was actually able to wear shorts most of the time.

Anyway, let's fast forward to now. Angie and I have kept in touch and I even got to go out and visit her again this past summer. We kept talking and she kind of met my friends through facebook, and this past week she came out to visit me for my birthday. We took her out to do crazy Joplin things and went to a cornmaze, which is where i come to the precipice of my story. While I was out in the cornmaze, I got separated from the group and was lost for about an hour and a half. This is where I had my a revelation: I am lost without Angie! I fell down to my knees right there in the middle of the cornfield, faltering under the weight of the predicament that I found myself in. I knew that I was called to teach English in Russia. However, I also knew how miserable and lost I was without this girl "Angie." What was I supposed to do? Was there no answer?

My friends found me a few minutes later and after finding our way out of the cornmaze, we headed back to school. Later that night, Angie and I had a good talk and she came to the conclusion that we should just throw caution into the wind and get eloped. However, after talking it over more thoroughly, we decided that it would be better to do what we were called to do.

The next morning she got on her flight back home and today I am sitting here wondering if doing the right thing was really worth it. I mean, she said she'd wait for me to retire and then we could be together forever, but it just seems so far away. I guess sacrifice isn't sacrifice if it doesn't cost us something...

Over and out.
Connor

A serious blog about analogies and swords.

2009-10-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

As I was thinking about what I'm about to write, I noticed that the majority of my blog post topics stem from conversations that I have with friends. Maybe I should be more social...
Anywho,
Last night I was talking with a friend who was telling about how they had just become involved in a Bible study in their church. My friend has a real gift with connecting with people, so it was a real blessing to see that they were putting that gift to good use. I made a comment how a lot of students have real gifts and yet they just sit around and let them go to waste with the expectations that once they graduate they will just jump into an effective ministry. It is at the point that I realized three things:

1. I fall/have fallen into this category.
2. It's time for an analogy.
3. I love analogies.

Picture, if you will, your spiritual strength as a sword. With this sword, you are going to do battle. For those going into ministry, this sword is going to be the tool of your trade and your time in Bible College is for you to learn everything there is to know about swords and sword warfare. You are going to learn how a sword is made, the history of swords, how to properly take care of your sword, etc, in hopes that you will be ready for battle when you leave school as a graduate.
However, there is something that Bible college doesn't specialize in. It may teach you everything about your sword, but it does not make you an experienced swordfighter. The only way to become an experienced swordfighter is through, well, experience.
Sometimes I wonder why we would expect anything different. I mean, would you expect a soldier who had never shot a gun to be much use in combat? Of course not! But for some reason, we expect that we are ready for the responsibility of a ministry once we leave college. I'll admit that I have fallen into this belief before. For a long time I lived from Sunday to Sunday just doing what I needed to do, going to church for my two hours, then going home. I wasn't involved in any church activities, but hey, I'm gonna be in the ministry someday right? I'll have plenty of time to be involved when it's my job.
But I think I was wrong. A soldier isn't just a soldier when he wears a uniform. A soldier is a soldier the moment he signs up. I think it's the same for us. The moment we became Christians, we became soldiers in the Lord's army. (I wasn't sure if I was going to use the "Lord's Army" analogy as I find it a bit cheesy, but I think it will work out. If you don't like it, quit reading my blog. TOUCHE!)
Once we recognize that we are already in the ministry, we just have to allow ourselves to be used. This doesn't mean we have to go get a paid ministry position or something extravagant. Just do what you know. Build relationships; encourage people. The church I interned for this past summer gives every staff member a day of the week to go visit the hospital. We would just show up on our day and go down the halls visiting with the people who were sick. We didn't preach to them or anything. We just spent time with them. That's not that hard is it?
To wrap it up, you don't have to be gifted in preaching to be a gifted minister. Shoot, I'm not even going to school to be a minister! I'm here learning to teach English. I'm just taking what God has gifted me with and using it for him.
Gettin silly with my 9milly,
Connor

Panera, Problems, Donald Miller, and 9

2009-09-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Being that I haven't blogged in a hundred dozen years, let me take a second to catch you up to speed.

I was robbed recently, I broke my car, two weeks ago I lost hearing in my right ear, and I'm not concerned about any of it.

Ok, so now that you're all caught up and we're friends, here's the actual blog:

The title of this blog comes from a few things that have been influencing me lately. Panera hasn't been influencing me, but I had a really good conversation with a friend there last week that has made me think deeper than I've thought in a long time. Not that I've been having shallow thoughts lately; I just haven't taken my thoughts and done anything with them. So, if this stuff I'm about to say doesn't make much sense, give it some time. I'll refine it over time and it will come together eventually. I'm just out of practice.

Have you ever felt that you're living an unfulfilling life? I know I'm only in college, but for some reason I haven't been able to get past the feeling that something was missing. In Donald Miller's new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, he talks about life as a story. He gives this example in the book's introduction:
"If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn't cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield Wipers. You wouldn't tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you'd seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you'd feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo.
But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make life meaningful either."

Hmm. I've never thought of things this way before. It makes sense though. I went and saw the movie "9" tonight and there is a character in the movie who waits and waits for something to take place but never does anything to better his situation. He's to afraid that something will be messed up and then nothing will be achieved at all.
Often times, I think that things are the same way with us. While we know that we could take action and maybe accomplish something, we have this fear gnawing at the back of our minds, telling us that we may fail and if we fail, we have to start all over.
Well, that's a good point. If we fail and mess every single thing up, we will probably have to start at square one. However, if we never start at all, we are still in square one. The only difference is that if we try, we learn from our mistakes, which gives us wisdom and insight for our next try. We know what we should and should not do, making our next plan of attack more precise and well planned. We may fail, but we get the satisfaction of knowing that when we try again, we will not fail the same way again. If we sit in square one though, all we know is that we will never, ever succeed.

While it may be easy to understand that you can't sit around and do nothing, it is not as easy to find the things that you are supposed to be doing. I hear a lot of people say that they know the goal they want to accomplish, but they just don't know how to go about doing it. Well, I don't know how to say this, but you probably have the wrong goal.

"Connor! How can you say that! You Jerk! You don't know me!"
You're right. I don't. But if you're anything like the rest of the world, and most of us are, you probably know I'm right. This isn't about me being right though. This is about what I've learned recently and how it can possibly help you. If that upsets you, then read a different blog. (J/k. I promise this wraps up nicely.)
The reason I knew that I had the wrong goal was because it was my goal. Plain and simple. When this goal that I had was finally accomplished, there would be one main benefactor: Me.
This is where my friend at Panera provided some insight. (If she put it in a book someday, it would be worth your time someday to read it. Since I don't want to spoil the book, I'll try to paraphrase and reword some of what was said. Partially because I can't remember exactly what was said.)
As a Christian, I was already given a goal. Maybe "goal" is the wrong word. I have been given a purpose. Don't get me wrong; there is a goal, but it is not my goal. It is our goal. As Christians, our goal is to win people to Christ. It is what we are made to do and we share this in common. Our purpose, however, is different. Our purpose is uniquely ours. Think of a toy factory. Everyone in it is ultimately making toys, but not everyone is doing the same job to achieve this goal. It is the same with my purpose. God has something special for me. There is a way for me to be used that others cannot be. And the same goes for you. You have a purpose that you were specially designed for. Something that makes you unique. Your purpose has a goal that's greater than a new car, better than some guy or girl you think is cute, and than the money that you know will make you happy. Your purpose, my purpose, has a goal that's not temporary, we won't have to sit back and think "Wow, that was neat. What should we do next?" Our goal may not be instantly gratifying, but it is eternally gratifying.

At the beginning of the blog, I wrote that I was recently robbed, went deaf in one ear, and broke my car. Honestly, a few weeks ago I probably would have been freaking out. While I'm not happy those things happened, I don't know of too much of a reason to be upset unless they keep me from fulfilling my purpose and achieving His goal.

Connor Bonner,
Over and out.

And you can take that to the bank...

2009-04-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Having been in a debate with the people mentioned in my last post, I was recently told that Christianity wasn't logical because faith is blind. I haven't been in the apologetic game that long, so I wasn't really prepared for that question. However, after a few long conversations with a good friend of mine, I think I have an argument that will debunk the "Christian faith isn't logical" myth. The Freethinkers gave me an analogy to show how faith was illogical, so I think I would like to disprove this analogy using a better analogy. So, here goes:

To start off, let's take a look at the original analogy. I'm going to do some paraphrasing for clarification issues.
There is a wall, and three people stand on one side of it and speculate... Jill says there is a blue ball behind the wall, Tim says there is a red ball behind the wall, and Randy says he cannot see through the wall so there is no way to know what is behind it.
Jill & Tim are forming beliefs that are not logical. Who is actually correct? Randy. Only because he used logic correctly, and came to the correct conclusion. Now, lets say that we find out that there is a blue ball on the other side Who is correct now? Logically, Randy was correct, but Jill was so was Jill. However, Jill did not use good logic to come to her conclusion. She turned out to be right, but not because of logic. Randy took the correct stance.

What has happened in this analogy is that the author restricted the story. There are variables in Christian faith that aren't incorporated into the story. If you take the "out of context" approach, then it seems easy to conclude that Christians aren't logical.
However, I think we should take the analogy to the next step. Let's try this:

Let us say that the ball was covered in blue paint and it arrived at its destination behind the wall because it rolled there. Jill arrives on the scene, looks around the room, and sees Tim, who was sitting there at the time that the ball was rolling and was able to watch the events unfold. Tim describes what happened and even writes it down for Jill so she won't forget. What a swell guy!
With this kind of evidence, Jill can logically deduce that there is indeed a blue ball behind the wall.
This is all good and fine until we meet someone like John, and there are a lot of Johns out there. John, seeing the same evidence, comes along and says "Well look at that! A block covered in blue paint scooted around to the other side of the wall." When Jill says "Look at that evidence! It's definitely a ball" John just says she's dumb and illogical and that evidence clearly indicates a block. John then goes and tells his friends about how the block scooted, even adding when the block started scooting because he guessed the speed at which it was scooting based on how long the paint had been dry. (He actually came up with several dates of when the paint dried, but he decided to go with the one that will make Jill's story seem the most absurd) While John has no eyewitness to verify his claim, he simply says that Tim is a big fat liar and that no one should ever believe him (Even though Tim has been proven correct when recording other events and other witnesses' claims line up with Tim's)

As you see, Jill and John have used the same evidence. The difference is how they interpreted the evidence. Just because John says his claims are legit and Jill's are absurd doesn't mean that they are. It just means John prefers inductive reasoning to come to his conclusions so that he doesn't have to believe what Jill said, while Jill prefers deductive reasoning to come to her conclusions so that she can know the truth.

Now, back to the faith part. Ultimately, we cannot know with 100% certainty that God is there because we cannot see him. However, we can definitely use logical, deductive reasoning to show that our conclusion is the logical probability of what evidence and reason tell us. When it comes down to it, I think I'm going to stick to my faith, because the odds are definitely on my side.

Пока Пока,
Connor

Joplin Freethinkers

2009-04-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

The other day, the Free-Thinkers of Joplin had a shin-dig at the local library. So you aren't confused, this is their definition of free thinker: A free thinkers beliefs are formed on the basis of logic, reason and evidence, and should not be influenced by dogma, authority, superstition, or tradition.
Well, in case you didn't know, that has me written all over it, so I got my keys and headed on over to the library. That night they had the author of the book "The God Virus" there and he was speaking of how religion infected people and cultures like a virus. In case you are curious, and I know you are, religion infects like this: It is spread through other people who are infected and it is often passed down from parent to child. It then begins to take control of your mind so that you see things from the viewpoint of the virus no matter what people tell you. Once infected, the person will also experience drastic changes in their behavior, speech, and other things involving the personality.
He then showed techniques that people use to spread the virus. Preachers, or infecting agents, use slow speech and often repeat their key words to get their point into your head. They also use guilt to make you keep coming back to the religion virus for forgiveness. They use emotions to try to get you to feel that you are experiencing things that can be mistaken for "holy experienes." He then stated how people infected with the virus fail to see how they show any of the symptoms. For example: If you ask a Christian about the translating that Joseph Smith did of the Book of Mormon, they will say it is absurd. However, if you ask them about how Jesus was divinely inspired, they'll see perfect logic in that.
Lastly, they ask for your money about 2/3 of, or at the end of their sermons because it is when you are most vulnerable and feeling the most guilty.
Now, as I sat there, I began to realize that Atheism fell into this category as well as Christianity. In his speech, the author kept repeating the words "Virus" and "infection!" so that we would understand what he was meaning. (I asked him about this and after a pause he admitted that he was using the same technique. I don't think he realized that this method of convincing people to believe something had been going on for millenium. We call it TEACHING)
I also noticed that guilt worked the same way for Atheist converts as it did for converts to Christianity. If people don't want to feel badly about themselves, they can either ask for forgiveness or they can pretend that there is no God so that they don't have to feel guilty. After all, if there is no one to tell them that what they are doing is wrong, then why should they feel guilty for it?
As for the emotions, the author got more "Yeah boy!" and "Exactly" calls than a Baptist preacher gets "Amen!" and "Hallellujah!" screams. They heard what they wanted to hear.
At the end of the talk, a man came up and asked for money so that they could fund things like this and help their community grow.
When the service (I mean social gathering) was over, I went and asked this guy how Atheism wasn't any less of a virus than Christianity. He said "Well, it's because we don't believe anything. We aren't trying to get people to believe in anything." Really? Are you sure? Do you really believe that you don't believe anything?

I dunno. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Connor

Leavin' on a jet plane...

2009-01-31T13:56:00.000-08:00

Russia trip stories: Part 1.
I need to clear up that my last blog was just analogy I was using as an example of God's love. Sorry for the confusion. I do indeed know people named Nastia and Boris, but the two in the story are fictional characters and do not reflect anyone that I personally know in Russia. Sorry for the confusion.

Now, to a real Russia story from my trip. Most of these stories that I'll be writing about in my next few blogs are just things that I wrote in my journal and have adapted for my blog. I guess it'll just give you a look into the way I was perceiving these events as they happened.
January 2, 2009-Leavin' on a Jet Plane.
4 PM: I'm about 30,000 feet above the earth right now and as I look out the window at the right wing of the plane, it appears that it is bouncing. I know that thousands of planes fly every day and manage to not crash, but it still seems a little bit dishearting to me that these wings supported by steel are bending to and fro. I mean, up this high there aren't really all that many failsafe plans. There's actually only one back-up plan that I can think of, and it happens to work for every possible situation: Crashing. For now I guess I'll just read my book and continue to periodically document my flight just in case these happen to be my last few hours.

5 PM: So, I've been in the air for about two hours now and was about to fall to sleep when I was rudely awakened by some Russian guy yelling. I'm not sure what's up, but he just started running towards the cockpit. He's dressed pretty well, so I doubt he's a terrorist or anything. I mean, who would buy a nice suit right before they died right? Right?
5:30 PM: Something must be up. I just heard the head steward arguing with the Russian dude and while I couldn't quite understand everything being said, I did hear "That's it. We're landing the plane." So, I guess this is the part where we all sit and wonder if we're going to die. (If this plane crashed and anyone is reading my journal, you probably are thinking that I'm a tad bit pessimistic. I'm not. It's just that short of praying, I can't really think of anything better to do than write down these current events.) We were just told by a flight attendant that the Russian man is very angry and the statements he is making are threats towards people.
5:35 PM: The captain just announced that we're going to be making an emergency landing at JFK in NYC because something is wrong with the plane. What does he mean somethings wrong with the plane? And why did the head steward just tell two men that he was going to need their help detaining the unruly guy? And why do they have...guns! Air Marshalls! Holy Cow! The legends are true! They do exist!
5:45 PM: The captain came on the loudspeaker and said that due to an unruly passenger, we would be landing in fifteen minutes. I guess the plane just healed itself, so now we only have Mr. Furious to deal with. Fantastic!
6:00 PM: We just landed and as we're driving down the runway I can see some firetrucks off in the distance. Strangely enough, they seem to be coming towards our plane.
6:01 PM: Our plane is being escorted down the runway by the NYPD.
6:15 PM: Our plane has just been boarded by 20 officers from the NYPD.
6:20PM: Officers opened fire on Russian man. J/k. They just made him get off the plane. Now the FBI is here and asking questions to figure out what happened. They are also making us erase our videos that we made on our cameras. Now that I think of it, they probably wouldn't have had to ask people what happened if they would have just looked at our videos that we shot of the incedent!
7:00 PM: Forty minutes ago they said it would be ten minutes until they took off again. It seems that Delta time goes slower than time in the real world. We're lifting off now and I'm tired. I'm getting ready to cross 10 time zones, so I'm going to lose a lot of sleep that I can't make up. I'll write more in the morning I guess.

Stay tuned for more.

To Russia With Love

2009-01-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

In Recent News: I just got back from my second annual trip to Russia and it was AWESOME. I went with a group of 8 and did a Vacation Bible School for some little kids in a city called Kostroma. It's about an hour east of where I was last time, making it about 5 and a half hours northeast of Moscow. Since I was obviously the most athletic person in the group (cough) they put me in charge of leading games for the kids. Let it be known that among the likes of 7-11 year olds, I am a soccer god. Also, let it be known that while this fine chiseled structure that I call my body looks good, it is actually quite out of shape. Since there were quite a few good happenings while I was in Russia, I'm gonna to give you all some of what I have written in my journal for the next few blogs. Before I do that though, I'm going to give you the story of two people I met over in Russia. I've never been much of a story writer, but I'm going to take what was told to me and put it in story form for you to enjoy. It isn't often that I find examples of God's love as clearly seen here with Boris and his grand-daughter Nastia. (Nastia is short for Anastasia in Russian)

Today's Topic: Love

My story begins in a town in Russia called Suzdal. Suzdal is an old traditional Russian town a few hours east of Moscow. It's the kind of place that looks like it never really left the 1700's and would be satisfied to stay that way for the next several hundred years. There's a main street made of bricks with little locally owned shops scattered here and there. The only sound you hear, if there is any sound at all, is probably a little local man that sits on a park bench playing his accordion and watching the birds.
Near the outskirts of town there is an old Orthodox Church that is several times older than our own country. It has an old wall, or kremlin, around it and for a few roubles you can take a tour of the restored parts of the building.
If you walk to the other side of the wall and look off in the distance, you can see an old wooden cabin that somewhat resembles the shape of a mushroom in that the building seems to get bigger around the higher it goes until it rounds off at the top. This house is the home of Boris and is where our story takes place.
It isn't hard to describe Boris. Just picture him as a real life, Russian Santa. He has a big white beard and has one of the deepest laughs you'll ever hear. The kind of laugh that makes you smile and almost laugh yourself when you hear it. He's a very wise man and it's not uncommon for a townsperson to stop by for some tea and ask him for advice on some matter. Boris has lived in this house so long that most of the townspeople just assume he was the man who built it.
After retiring quite some time ago, Boris devoted his time to taking care of his grand-daughter, Nastia, as she grew up. The townspeople knew Nastia as a very shy and quiet girl but when she would go over to his house she would sit and talk for hours and hours until it was time for her to go home. Each time she left , Boris was sure to give her some piece of advice concerning what she had talked to him about. He would then tell her he loved her and she would be on her way.
As Nastia began to grow up, she always made sure that she would stop in a few times a week to say hi to her grandfather and have a few cups of tea with him. She still talked to him about anything that came to her mind and he would always give her a bit of advice. As it happens to most teenagers, Nastia began to grow more independent. She would always politely listen to what her grandfather had to say, but as soon as she left his house she would disregard what he had told her. "I know he means well, but he doesn't really know what it's like to be a kid these days."
When Nastia began her studies at the University, she wasn't able to stop by her grandfather's as much. She knew she should. She loved him an awful lot, but she didn't really feel like listening to one of his lectures. When she finally did make it to his house, she would often be timid, but after a little while she would be her old self and on they would talk late into the night until she went home. "I love you," he'd say as she closed the door to go.
A long time passed and Boris didn't see Nastia for quite a while. She had been studying in another city and said that she didn't have time to stop by and see him. When she finally returned to Suzdal for a visit, she was almost afraid to go see her grandfather. She tried to act brave as she walked down the street leading to his house, but all the while she would be thinking "Oh! I hope he's not too mad at me." She would timidly creep up to the porch and as she opened the door, she looked in to see her grandfather sitting at the table smiling, with two cups of hot tea. "Hello there," he said, still smiling. She slowly sat down and began to quietly tell him the things that had been going on in her life. She felt so ashamed. It seemed like the past year had been one disaster after another.
When she had finished talking, she looked up to see her grandfather giggling to himself. "Well of course those things happened! What did you expect?" he laughed. She looked puzzled. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Let me guess," he sighed, "You thought that I gave you advice all these years because you thought I was just an overprotective grandpa." Nastia looked down. He slapped the table and laughed, "Oh! Put your head up. I was a kid once too you know."
She looked puzzled again. "You aren't the only one who likes to have fun. At the same time, I've had a fair share of sorrows too though."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, you didn't think i've been sitting in this cabin for my whole life did you? I've been around for quite some time now and I'd probably have gone crazy here all alone. I've lived my own life and I've seen more pain and suffering than I'da liked to and I think I can say that almost all of it could have been avoided if people would have just made a few better choices. This is why I give you my advice. I love you very much Nastia, and I don't want the things that I've seen to happen to you."
"Now, I know you're a grown up, but don't forget that you're never gonna be older than me." He grinned. "Anything that you're going through has either happened to someone I know, or it has happened to me. I just want to help you avoid some of the problems that you don't need."
As Boris got up to make some more tea, Nastia sat there thinking to herself. Until now, she had never fully grasped how much her grandfather cared about her. It seemed like everything he had ever done was done so that he could someday help her. She couldn't help but wonder just how much help he had given her that she had just blown off. And could his advice really help with all the things that he said it could?
Boris came back with the tea, and seeing no reason for her to hold back, she asked him the question burning on her mind. "Grandpa, I know you mean well, but do you really think that if I follow your advice, bad things won't happen?" He laughed a deep hearty laugh. "Of course bad things can happen. You can't avoid all of life's problems by just following what your old grandfather suggests. There will always be tragedies that we can't avoid. Our family and friends will die, we may lose our jobs, and sometimes the ones we love will abandon us. It's inevitable. But it's not the bad things in life that define us. Actually, it's not even the good things in life that define us. It's how we choose to react to the things that happen to us that defines who we are."
Nastia was beginning to understand what her grandfather was saying and she felt her eyes moistening. She couldn't even begin to count how many times she must have disappointed her grandpa. All of her life she had neglected to do what her grandfather had said. He just wanted to help her. All those times she had gone to his house and acted like everything was alright. All the times that she had spilled her problems to him. How foolish she had been! But something still bothered her even more than that.
"Grandpa" she asked, "Why have you continued to let me come over and talk with you when I continually did the opposite of what you suggested that I do? All these years and you never yelled at me or even got angry. Even when you knew that I wouldn't take your advice, you still offered me your help."
Boris stared at her thoughtfully for a moment then said "Because I love you. Remember when I said our reactions make us who we are? Well, my reaction to you has been, and always will be love. You are my grand-daughter; my own flesh and blood, and nothing you do will make me stop loving you."
"You are right. Following my advice won't keep tragedies from happening, but when those tragedies do happen, it doesn't change the fact that I still love you. Even when you become angry at the fact that bad things are happening, I still love you. There is nothing you can do to change that."
He thought for a second, then said, "Think of it this way. If a man chooses to live in a cave, does that mean that the sun ceases to shine? Of course not! The man just has to choose to step back outside to feel the sun again. It's the same way with my love to you."
Nastia wiped her eyes and for the next few minutes her and her grandfather just sat there in silence. She finished her tea and after shooting the breeze with him for a few more minutes, she got up and began to head out. Right before she left, she turned around to her grandpa and said, with a smile on her face "I love you grandpa."

I never knew Nastia before she had this conversation with her grandfather, but the people in Suzdal say that she went into that house that night one person and came out another. Today she's married and has two beautiful little girls whom she loves more than anything. She works on most weekdays at a bakery that doesn't pay much, but luckily there's a cabin just up the road with an old man that watches her kids for free.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It...And I Feel Fine.

2008-12-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

In Recent News: Illinois has now had four of its eight past governors arrested. However, I am proud to announce that Blagojevich isn't going down without a fight. Blaggy says that just because they have voice recordings of him trying to sell Senator Obama's senate seat doesn't mean he should have to resign. You see, people like Bloggogevitch are just what we Americans need. When times get rough, we need to stick it to the man and say "I'm not giving up!" Well done Rod, well done.

Today's Audience: Environment wasting humans.

Today's topic: Global Warning for Global Warming

Bonjeurno!

So, I went with a really good friend of mine to see the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" the other day. Actually, I'm lying. I went with David.
Anywho, in this movie, I learned three major things: Earth is not our planet, the Secretary of Defense is a terrible diplomat for extra-terrestrials, and we are ruining our planet (which once again, isn't ours). I have never been to a movie that had a hidden agenda be the main plot of the movie. In the end, the survival of the earth doesn't rely on us, it relies on the emotions and feelings of aliens...and by aliens I mean postermodernists. It was their truth that we needed to die, and because they were more powerful, their truth was more true than ours.

It's New Years Eve today. It kind of makes me wonder what New Years resolutions Shadrack, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel would have made. I mean, when the king's men tried to find something wrong with them, the only thing they could find was that they worshiped God, and the only way they found that is because they made the law up just to trap them! With stats like that, what could a person possibly want to change?

Well, I'm out. I'm heading to Russia on Friday so I'll be gone for a while, but I should return on the sixteenth.
Until then, do svidania!
Connor

Our Economic "Disaster"

2008-11-29T10:05:00.000-08:00

In Recent News: You can knit and be manly.

Today's intended Audience: American Christians

Hello all and Happy late Thanksgiving,
In case you haven't listened to or read the news in the past four months, here's the update: The end of the world is coming. President Bush and his administration have ruined our economy and the only hope is with President-Elect Obama.
Now, lets think about that. For one, let's dismiss the political part. The economy "collapsing" is not something that can be blamed on particular individuals. It CAN be blamed on people spending money they don't have on things they don't need.
Anywho, enough of that.
I was talking about the economy with a friend the other day and it got me thinking. If I can sit here in Starbucks drinking a four dollar cup of coffee (or tea in my case) is our economy really that bad? While the stocks have crashed and some people have lost a lot of money, something tells me that our economy is not bad. As Americans, we can buy our own houses, drive our own cars, and when we are hungry, we can drive to the nearest fastfood restaurant and get something to eat. If we still need something we can run to Wal-Mart and pick it up. But all of this is still besides the point.
While we sit in our houses and worry about what will become of our money and country, over 1 billion people sit around the world living on one dollar per day or less. Knowing this, I don't see how the news corporations can sit there and tell us that things are terrible. Our stock marking crashing is bad, but it's not a disaster. People thinking that this is some tragedy is the disaster. People have been living in poverty for years and years, and for years and years we have ignored them. And yet when it happens to us, (like us not being able to buy as many things at the store is the same as living on a dollar a day) we throw a fit and demand justice. The thing is that when we get help, we waste our resources. Example? The government bailout. A large number of the companies that were bailed out by the government went out and spent their borrowed money on absolutely absurd things. Citi even went and payed some 400,000 dollars to have a sports stadium named after them. I'm not even making that up. I mean, this is like helping your buddy out of a 50 foot hole only to watch him happily jump back into it the moment he gets out. Obviously, some students just aren't ready to learn.
Now, I can see why many people may be a bit worried. I mean, shoot, if money and financial security was what I was living for, I would be worried too. But as Christians, I'm not sure that we should fall into that category. Actually, I'm really sure that we shouldn't. The verse that comes to mind is Matthew 6:31-34 which says...go look it up for yourself. (It's the don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself verse.) What does this mean? Well, for starters, we can know that we don't need to be worried. Here's a cool trivia fact: Do you know what China, India, Russia, Haiti, and America have in common? They all have Christians! That's right! Every single one of these countries has Christians living in them. This means that even if we become poor and homeless, we can still love and serve God! Isn't that reassuring? And equally reassuring is that God loves us no matter what our financial position is.
As for the people living on less than a dollar a day, you can still help them. If you don't know where to start, feel free to shoot me an email and I'll be glad to help you get pointed in the right direction.
Fester Fester Fester,
Connor

The Independant Mormon Part II

2008-11-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

In Recent News: Being that it is early in the morning/late at night, I forgot this in my last post. Have you guys heard of the recent book turned movie, Twilight? Well, for those who didn't know, this is a Vampire movie that was originally written by a Mormon woman. She says that the book premise came to her in a dream. Now, I'm not one for conspiracies* but does this sound familiar? The last time a Mormon put their dreams into writing we got divinely inspired books! Now that vampires have a chance at cannonicity, you can be sure that I am not answering the door to Mormon missionaries anymore. (That's a joke, because vampires can't walk around in sunlight to do door to door missions work. They'll burn up. DUH!)

* (If I was I would have said something about Obama's middle name being "Hussein" and his last name being a letter away from Osama)

The Independant Mormon Part II was brought to you by "The Independant Woman Part II" by Destiny's Child.

Connor

National Missionary Convention extravaganza!

2008-11-23T17:19:00.000-08:00

In recent news: Today I was driving back home for Thanksgiving break and on my way I drove passed a school. Because I was worried about the safety of the children, I kept looking for the "School Zone" sign so I would know to slow down but didn't see it. Finally, 50 or so yards before I reached the school, I saw it: "During School Hours, Reduce Speed from 70 to 60 MPH." How 'bout that? I just felt I should inform you all of this so that whenever you see that you should slow down to 25 or 15 miles per hour in a school zone, you can inform the school that kids are safe until they are hit at 60 miles per hour.

You're welcome.

Topic: National Missionary Convention

Audience: Everybody

Today's blog serves no real purpose and has no moral, so you don't need to be worried about being guilt tripped by the end of it...sinner.
So, this past weekend I went to one of the largest public gatherings of outlaws in the world; the National Missionary Convention! I saw people that were wanted by governments all over the world for being nice and doing good and boy did I have fun! It seemed like no matter where I walked, I ran into someone I knew. It was almost like taking a stroll through facebook or something, but instead of creepy pictures of people, they were real!...and they tried to give you free stuff! It was almost like heaven except I had to leave. At least I got the collectors series business cards (and magnets) from every booth. I gave my name and email to 46 different organizations before the part of my brain that allows me to be guilt tripped exploded.

The End,
Connor

Failed Heroes Fail Heroes.

2008-10-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Baristas,

In recent news: Did you know that Democrats are bulletproof? I'm not kidding. It's a well known fact actually.*

Today's audience: Anyone who judges a belief or system because of the hypocrasy of the people who associate themselves with it.

I was talking with a family member this past weekend who was going on about politicians who use God as a major focus point in their campaign but always get caught doing something sinful and heinous. He (or she) gave a long list of examples and as a result, this person had basically written off Christianity altogether. If I had a nickel for every time for every time I came across this situation, I could bail our economy out and still have nickels to spare.
However, I will admit that the mystery person did have a good point...but I'm still going to try and give an answer.
The main question is: Why would someone want to follow a belief or adhere to a system that raises up hypocrites?
My answer is: Because when you associate yourself to a particular belief, in this case Christianity, you are not doing it to follow the hypocrites. If you are doing that, you will be grossly disappointed. Whether it be a parent, a friend, an older person you respect, or even a preacher/teacher, everyone has a hero. Why are they our heroes? Because these people have done or can do something that we can't, and we want to be like them. Unfortunately though, all heroes have weaknesses. No matter how good our hero seems to be, there is always something that they mess up on and many times we see this and think, "Well, maybe I don't want to be like that..." and we quit following that person's example.*
If this is the case, then you are following the wrong thing. We do not follow other Christians; we follow God. This is usually true for almost any religion or belief. The ideas behind them are solid. They are not going to change. Just because the people that follow the idea have messed up doesn't mean that the idea itself has become different. As a Christian, I know I am not, and will never be, perfect. I admit it. There are times that I have, do, and will misrepresent my beliefs. While I am honored that some people look up to me, I want to make it clear that the things that they admire in me are not my own ideas; they are God's. So, when I fail you, I fully understand that you will be disappointed in me, but know that these things are my failings, not my God's failings.
Пока Пока!
Коннор Фаррис

*I'm just kidding guys!
**Side note: When this happens, I just wonder what was really expected from our hero. Did you really expect this person to be flawless? Even superheros fail; they get back up though. That's the reason we think of them as our heroes.

Rock talk...jayhawk.

2008-10-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hello world,

Recent News: A wise friend of mine asked me the other day: "Connor, do you think there are more rocks or people in the world?" At first I was befuddled at the question. Of course there are more rocks. How could there not be? I mean, seriously, have you ever driven down a gravel road? Those should cover Chicago's population at least. And what about sand? Don't even get me started on sand.
However, I've been thinking about this question. To know the answer, we must first know if sand and/or gravel counts as rocks? The answer according to deductive reasoning: No! If they counted as rocks, then we wouldn't have to call them sand or gravel now would we? Also, most smaller rocks have broken off of bigger rocks. This does not mean we should count them as more rocks. If my arm falls off, I'm not going to call it another person. I'm going to call it my broken arm. (And for all you literalists out there, human reproduction is not the same as a rock breaking off into more rocks. That's absurd and I won't hear of it. Sedimentary rocks and stuff like that is the equivalent of reproduction)
Secondly, meteors and asteroids that didn't burn up when they entered our atmosphere are not rocks. They are meteorites and space junk...duh.
Now we know that the earth is pretty much a big rock. For the sake of science, we're going to say that tectonic plates are just big rocks too. According to current studies, there are 70 tectonic plates, so that just narrowed down our rock population or...rockulation. So, now that we've narrowed it down, let's see what we have left: Plates, gems, random ole boring rocks, limestone and other sedimentary rocks, and geodes. (Basically, this is just like people with each category of rock representing a different ethnicity.) And since it takes a looooong stinking time for sedimentary rocks to form and only years for people to reproduce, I'd say humans either have the lead or are about to snatch it.

I'm getting freedom for my birthday!

2008-10-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

Each time I blog (Which isn't often) I begin my blog by giving you a little tidbit of information that you probably did not know and may have not even cared to know. However, due to the seriousness of today's blog, I'm going to save it for the end of the post.
Thanks a ton,
Connor

This blog's intended audience: Those that want me to drink with them on my 21st birthday and those who are wondering if I will.

As a few of you may have guessed, my 21st is coming up soon and some of you have asked me if I would like to go out and get a drink. So, I just thought I would inform you that I would not like to.
Now, many of you may be thinking, "Yeah, that's just ole religious Connor being Mr. GoodyTwoShoes," and if you think that, I can inform you that is not the case. While I am what some would consider "religious," I do not believe my salvation is based on whether or not I drink. Some of the nicest, most Godly people that I know enjoy the occasional drink and I look up to them very much. Still, this is a part of life that I am choosing to do without, and here's why: I come from a family where both sides have been affected by alcoholism. It has been the root of much hatred, many divorces, many fights, and many deaths. It has been a stumbling block for every generation of my family and I am choosing to be the first generation that chooses something different; something better. Sometimes the only way to change your situation is to become the change itself.
If you do drink, please do not feel that you need to hide it from me. I hope you know me better than to think that my friendship with you is based on how you live your life. This is not about you and me, and this is not about me being too good for drinking. It's actually the opposite. With my personality and mindset, I know that if I started drinking I would not have the willpower to set limits for myself. Rather than put myself to the test, I am simply refusing to give alcohol the power to control me.
Until next time, your comrade,
Connor

Now onto the good stuff:

Today's news: Adam and Eve had millions of children at one time! That's right. Before the fall of man, there was no death, so every time Adam and Eve...well, you know...millions of sperm would have made it to Eve because they couldn't die. This means that Eve was pregnant with millituplets and she could successfully deliver them because she couldn't die either. So, when you wonder how people began populating the earth so quickly, there's your answer.

The Yellow Brick Road is a Toll Road.

2008-09-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today's News: I have a bad case of poison ivy, so after a few nights of bad sleep due to itching, I went to the store to buy some caladryl. No joke, on the back of the bottle it says "Dries oozing and weeping poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. All this time I had thought that I couldn't sleep because of the itching, but apparently my poison ivy is weeping all night. With all of that racket, it's no wonder I can't sleep. So, being financially frugal, I bought a fifty cent pair of earplugs rather than a four dollar bottle of caladryl. It's times like these that I know that if my mom could see me, she'd be proud my spending choices.
Anywho,

Today intended audience: The State of Kansas. That's right; Everyone last one of you!

I was driving through Kansas the other day and I came to a toll booth in the middle of nowhere. They said the only way they would let me drive any further was if I gave them money. Now, being a generous (and humble) guy, I eagerly pulled out my checkbook so I could continue my journey, but being the curious type, I did have a few quetions for them. The Kansas toll booths were first created to pay off the construction costs of building the highways. But, I happen to know that these roads were payed off quite a while ago. So, why is Kansas still making me pay to drive on these roads?
Their answer was that the tolls payed for the upkeep of the roads. Ok. I'll buy that. But, here's the real question (I put everything in small numbers to make it easier to understand): You have road construction and you have road upkeep. Let's say road construction cost 5 dollars per month, but road upkeep cost 1 dollar per month. If the tolls brought in 5 dollars a month when the road construction was being paid for, where is the extra 4 dollars going now that upkeep is all that is all that has to be payed for? I'm not saying anything bad about Kansas, but you'd think with that kind of extra road money floating around there should be loop-de-loops and corkscrews in the roads by now. Why in the world is my drive in Kansas still boring as all get out?
Unable to answer that question, I take my check back and head back to Missouri. Speaking of Missouri, these roads sure are bumpy...

P to the Eace out
Connor

Have We Said "Goodbye" to Submission?

2008-09-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

Intended audience for this post: OCC Students
Hey there readers!

Today's news:
I baptized my guitars today. I knew that if they weren't baptized they wouldn't be going to heaven, and since I really enjoy playing guitar, I figured it was time for a change in their lives.
Anyway...
If you are a returning student this year, you may have noticed that there has been some rule changes. (Everyone applauds) A lot of people are, no doubt, thrilled about this but I want to ask if we really should be.
Was it really that much of a challenge for us to adhere to those rules? Sure, the hair rule may be cool, but was it such a hinderance to your life that we needed to get rid of it? People said that it was "oldschool" to ban long hair but I don't think that is the issue. I think that the overall issue was that people would not submit to the authority of the school. Getting rid of the rule did nothing to solve the overall problem. It just disguised it. Rather than tell us that we were being unsubmissive, the school lowered its standards for us.
As students of OCC, we knowingly sign a contract saying that we will submit to the rules. You did not have to come to OCC; you chose to. (Unless your parents forced you. If that's the case, then you should be thankful that your parents care enough about you to give you the opportunity for foundation in Christian Education.) You are paying to attend this college and learn from the staff and faculty, not to change the rules when they don't benefit you.
Now, with that being said, let us get back to the real issue. The OCC rules are not put into practice to harm us. If anything, they are there to protect us. But if nothing else, they are there to train us. If we can't submit to the rules of our school now, what do you think will happen when we start our ministry? The people we minister to will always take things one step further than we do in our examples. If we won't follow the rules set before us, why would you think that a congregation of people will follow rules set by us? When push comes to shove, I'm just asking you to think about what the effect of you breaking a rule is going to have on the people that are looking up to you.
That's about all...oh, and go vote.
Connor