Science; Are We Going to Far?

Last night on ABC's Nightline, http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline,  they aired an episode that was really quite facinating.  I'm sure that it probably attracted more viewers than the usual crowd.  Why? The title read...

"Secrets of The Mind"  .... Which could have read "Here is your excuse"

I didn't get a chance to watch the episode in it's entirity yet, but I certainly do plan on doing so.  They interviewed a guy that was responsible for killing 17 women.  Apparently it all started one night when he was with a prostitute who refused to provide services, so he ended up beating her viciously, only to cut her up into tiny pieces.

This man agreed to have his brain examined, and through brain scans they noticed a lack of activity in the frontal lobe; this is the area of the brain that we use for rational thinking, conscience, ect.  The argument that scientist are tying to make is that people who have lower levels of activity in this area of the brain are more likely to act violently than those that don't.  I'm sure we all understand the concept; if you have a conscience, you think twice, maybe three times, if you don't, you act on impulse.  However, I don't necessarily feel that a conscience prevents you from doing certain things.

My big question is, which came first; the chicken or the egg?  Did repeated experiences of frustration, anger, or rage lead to his brain being rewired in a maladapative way to decrease the activity, or was he born this way?  Some people are stating that it's a brain defect; some people are just born with a brain without a conscience.  While others are wondering if it is infact a direction cause from the environment- growing up in an abusive home, rough neighborhood, poverty, whatever the social injustice may be.

This is just very alarming to me because science points to the mind, where faith points to the heart.  I can see where scientist are discovering some pretty awesome things, but at the same time, what is this really accomplishing?  It's creating a new doorway for criminals to plead braind defect and act like nothing really happened.  I do think they would intitiate some kind of program to help rewire their brains, and assist with better coping skills... which is something we should have been doing for criminals since day one!!

We are all made in the image of Christ.  I am pretty certain Jesus had a temper too that he just had to pray against extremely hard.  Don't allow science to dictate your need for a savior, or lack of need.  Most issues are deeply rooted in the heart, not your mind.  However everything is connected- a negative mind can destroy your heart, as well as a troubled heart can distort your thinking. 

Anyway, just something I wanted to blog about, I think that they may be on to something, but at the same rate I feel we are continuing down the slippery slope of "lets blame God for our dysfunctional body".

Just Catching Up

It's hard to believe that the month of August is nearly gone and fall is just around the corner.  The past few weeks have been sort of a roller coaster for me, it's been difficult staying ahead of the learning curve that's for certain!

A lot of stuff had been going on within the sunday school, mostly petty in my opinion, but there was some learning that needed to take place.  We ended up having a meeting this past sunday to discuss a lot of things and honestly I am really thankful that we did.  When we tend to wander out on our own and don't have anyone to hold us accountable about things, we then do whatever we want to.  We should always consider how things appear to be regardless of what the truth might be.  I spent so long not closely knit with people that it didn't matter what I was doing, or how it appeared.  It is certainly a life adjustment for me, but honestly in a good way.  Perhaps some things that they recommended were over the top for me, but all in all, I am very thankful to have a group of guys that care enough about me to do know what's going on in my life.

Being back home has been pretty difficult for me.  Thankfully I was able to work a few days last week with David, but then I threw my back out on Friday.  It's been tough to get around, thankfully I've had some hydrocodone, 350mg, which has been enough to take the edge off.  After four months of being unemployed I am finally starting to realize how it takes it's toll on people, on myself.  I have found myself extremely sensitive about some of the smallest things.  I really don't know how people stay at home alone all day with nothing to do, minimal social interaction, feeling isolated, and manage to have a health mental well being!

 I know there is a purpose for me not having a job yet, but jeeze, I'm done with it! I am wanting to work, for the sake of working, nevermind the fact of having to pay bills, I want some place to report to for work 5 days a week.  I would work with David full time but they don't always need me, just depends on the kind of work that they are doing that day.  I know everything will be worked out in its time, I just certainly didn't expect it to take this long.

The next few weeks should be pretty busy; I've moved/currently still moving things back into my moms and my dad and step mom will be moving from Richmond to Lynchburg in the next few weeks.  It's going to be soo weird having my dad live here, I have not lived in the same town as him since I was in 5th grade.  I must admit though, I am pretty excited about it!

 Well that's all for now, oh wait, I was suppose to give a shout out to Nate, haha.  Nate, I appreciate you man, you have done a lot for me over the past few weeks, and now you have officially made my blog!

Enjoy your day!

Chicago..... Oh my

Jess and I left Pentwater, MI because Brad's dad was coming up to visit, and we decided that it would be fun to go to Chicago since neither one of us had ever been.  Well....

For starters, driving in the city was crazy! Driving through downtown wasn't all that bad, it was just trying to navigate the city, trying to find the fastest route- which there are none! We spent like 2 hours just trying to travel about 15 miles.  Will I ever go back? Most likely not.

Our first experience was at Lincoln Park where we witnessed this girl slamming on her horn at some guy, so he gets out his car, standing about 6'4, 230lbs, and starts cussing her out.  They argued cussing at each other for about 1 minute; stupid girl... stupid city.

We ended up making our way in the evening to see the White Sox play the Twins, that was fun! The White Sox played really well, not to mention the home run.   Parking was fun though, not.  It was going to cost us $23 to park! So we both said screw that, was we were trying to make our way out of the area this guy is like "I got parking here, follow me! You are luck you are white dude", haha, so we ended up parking for $13 down some back ghetto alley.  Yes, I was scared for me life.  Thankfully I drive a Corolla, no one wants to steal those rims! My car was safe when we got back, had all its wheels...

Jess wanted us to get some scalped tickets, the guy that hooked us up with parking told us to go to "Big John"... after the shady parking job I definitely wasn't about to take that risk! The game was a lot of fun though!

Here are some pictures from the drive home take in Indiana.... Enjoy

So glad to be home! Still praying and waiting for a job, but I am certainly thankful for the time I got to venture out of Lynchburg; total of 2100 miles.

Summer Adventure Part 2

The week was full of playing cards, spending time at the beach (Lake Michigan), sailing, skiing, and playing lots and lots of Nerts.  Nerts is a card game that apparently you have to be born with a certain genetic trait in order to be good at it- because I'm not! Althought I did beat Adam, Katy's brother, who is suppose to be all powerful when it comes to Nerts.  Katy though, I never stood a chance.  I would have take a picture of the scores of those games, but that would only be incriminating towards me haha!

I really appreciated my time there, it gave me a chance to really connect with God, and Jessica, honestly.  I wish I had actually spent more time kind of meditating but it seemed we were so busy there that I really wasn't able to.  That area is just so calm and peaceful that it allows your mind just time to literally dump everything and reboot.  Since I don't have facebook anymore, I'll just post some more pictures from the trip on here in no particular order.  I won't include anything in regards to Chicago in this post, I will wait and post those in another post! Enjoy!

Ending Summer Adventure Part 1

I just arrived yesterday back in the great state of Virginia; let me tell ya, if you ever venture out, you will be glad to come back home! I think it's similiar to the way the zoo animals felt in Madagascar when they left the zoo! Bad analogy eh? I'm famous for those!

For starters, Jess and I left early Wednesday morning and drove to Cleveland, Ohio. We had a great time in Cleveland, ventured to the Rock n Roll Hall of fame and then went on a dinner cruise on Lake Erie. We were sat with another couple that were pretty nice; it's always fun to meet new people from different cities. You can def tell that the city is mad at Lebron James... hope he doesn't plan on returning!

Downtown Cleveland from Lake Erie

Picture from Rock n Roll Hall of fame- we took a picture of the picture because we didn't wanna pay for it!

We left the next morning for Pentwater, Michigan, which took us much longer than anticpated because of some pretty bad traffic and construction around Ann Arbor, Michigan.

I had such a great time in Michigan! This was only my second time going, but the place certainly feels like home away from home. One of the perks of the trip aside from it being such a beautiful place, is great friends! Katy and Brad are pretty awesome people and I have such great respect for them, especially in how well they are raising their son Miles, just don't say the word "cousins" around him, haha.

The first night we were there something really awesome happened; God made himself known. There were some personal issues that their family were going through and they were really concerned about a family member. Katy's mom asked me point blank, "What should we do?", somehow, somewhere, I mustered up enough honest to say "Pray". We then sat there in the living room, all of us, and prayed out loud of the situation regarding that family member. That honestly is what life is suppose to be about, not being ashamed of faith, recongizing God's power, and utilizing it! So don't just say, "I'll pray for you", do it! (Granted I did do that once while in Michigan, which I still feel bad about, but I was hoping to not offend someone).

So I got to try my first time at water skiing! Man it was a blast. The first time I got up, and then felt like my legs just wripped apart at the hips! My legs went everywhere. After the first intital shock of getting up and crashing, I started to have a real blast with it! I def want to learn how to wakeboard now, I think that would be a real blast. The second day we did it Jess was able to get up too; she didn't stay up long but she was certainly a trooper! Here are some pictures of us skiing.

OUCH! haha, man that one seriously hurt!

 

New Song

So I felt like working on some music today and so I decided to pull a song out of the archive that my buddy Jonathan May wrote. I put some lyrics to it and started recording the vocals today, I still need to do some tweeking but this is what I've got so far.



I've fallen again, by the deceit in your eyes
Struck by the sin, that grows through your eyes
You've reach out your hand for me to take
Whisper your lies, telling me it's safe

You've lied to me more than a time or two
But still I trust in the things you do
You spin me around, break my knees
Drag me down, and take the keys

Chorus
You break..... me down
Down so far, I can't feel my pain
You break... me down
I can't lift my head, Father, send your rain

I need some hope, through your blood I'm alive
Some way to cope, not another to disguise
You reach out your hand for me to take
Its through your mercy I enter your grace

I need your rain to clense me now
To wash this pain, to make me bow
On my knees you lifted my head
Took this disease, and gave me bread

Chorus
Chorus
You break..... me down
Down so far, I can't feel my pain
You break... me down
I can't lift my head, Father, send your rain

Bridge
Take a look around me
This is where your found me
Send down your rain
Send down your rain
REPEAT

CHORUS

I'm kind of surprised I wrote this honestly. For me it was kind of a retrospective look on how I've lived, made stupid choices, fallen away from God. I think we have all felt this way more than once in our lives! Suggestions are welcome.