The Garbled Epoch

Darkness stirs and
wakes imagination . . .
Silently the senses
abandon their defences . . .

Close your eyes
and surrender to your
darkest dreams!
Purge your thoughts
of the life
you knew before!

-The Phantom of the Opera (The Music of the Night)


Wow, this is exactly how everything is feeling after such an unique week in my life and the lives of my friends and family. After a week of experiencing the power of God, and then returning to ordinary life, things seemed to pull on me as soon as I returned. It's been a nirvana experience, but putting aside whatever any of you all think about spirituality, God, religion, and or faith; this entry will be about a God that I KNOW exsists, and about a spiritual battle I know is going on in the hearts and lives of everyone in this entire planet.


Dark and difficult times lie ahead, Harry. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right... and what is easy.

- Albus Dumbledore
(Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Isn't this exactly how the spiritual battle is being played out? If you have trouble thinking in this whole spiritual battle that is being played out then imagine it like this:

In the middle east, and most of Europe, there are those who chose the easy way, and that is allowing terrorisim to run rampant in their streets. They give into the demand of terrorists just so they won't have to suffer, just so they won't have to fight for their freedom. Yet there are those who do fight for their freedom. That is why we had 9/11. That is why we won't stand for terrorisim. That is why London is being attacked right now.

On a side note, we need to be in serious prayer for London right now. They are under such attacks right now. Whatever their response is over these next months will determine if they continue to be a target, or if they will become a slave to the terrorists demands.

Now to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, this is exactly how we are attacked. Satan knows that if we continue in our habitual sins, he has won in making us almost utterly powerless. That is why he attacks so heavily when a child of God has found freedom.

Freedom isn't free, it is the product of fighting for rights others don't want you to have.


Why do I say all of that? Well, cause personally, I was attacked in so many ways yesterday when I got home from camp.

I'll admit, I'm a guy. Pretty girl walks by and there's no telling what goes on in my head. It's what goes on in there that makes it a sin or not. And I've had trouble with that very thing. That is why that is the very thing that came after me when I got home from camp. Posters, movies, MUTLIPLE TV shows, magazines; you name it, I saw it. Did I fail the test? Yes. Will I fail it again? Probably. Does this mean I'm not fighting? No. I fight knowing that I am on the winning side.



Be in thanksgiving for Jen and pray that she continues to grow in this new found faith of hers pray that she knows we love her and will continue to love her.

Be in prayer for Brit's cousin Katie that she comes to know the love that Jen has.

Be in prayer for my friend Rachel that everyone that was in the car wreck will have a full recovery.

Keep Abbey in your prayers that she might know her Father's love. And be able to forgive her dad for the pain he caused.

Pray that Austin will know how much we love him and will miss him as he moves up to the boonies in Colorado. Pray also for many reunions.

Please pray for me that I might continue to gain my strength from our Lord to fight this fight so He might gain glory.



Dear God, I lift up those in London who are wondering why they are under attack. Let them know that you are there whenever they are willing to let you comfort them. Let them know that we truely do care and are praying for them. Give them the strength to carry on and NOT let the terrorists win. I pray protection over them and a prayer of thankfullness that no one died in the latest attacks.

I'm out.

I don't know where my blog is heading from here. I'm thinking about getting my own site so I can categorize all the topics I post on. I know for one thing, I'd like it if more people commented :D I know you're all out there. We've already had over 1,000 different people visit this site. Anyways, I haven't written poetry in awhile so I thought I'd give it a shot. Please let me know what you think:

The Unseen

My deepest darkest fears
The cold nights that bring tears

The dark is creeping in
The could of my dark sin
The deadly silence all around
Is the only deafening sound

The Silence begins to end
Wrath around the bend
This journey will never end

Round and round again
The merry-go-round spins and spins
My world turns upside down
And slowly, I see the fragilness of it all

The door is closed once more
An angry father paces the floor
He strikes and strikes again
With the words he's only known

And the cirlce goes on
From the father to the son
The unseen blows are throw again
The unseen scars are within

And the unseen maker of us all
Crys tears of pain
Of hurtful words and twisted love
The brokeness of it all
Is more than he can bear

Won't you put away
The twisted words you say
Remove the mask you keep
And find fullfiling dreams
Through all of the unseen
Won't you take the chance to dream

Escape the stoneset path
Avoid a demons wrath
Reach into the night
And take back the sunbeam for the unseen

This one is for the unseen
The unseen silence of it all,
The unseen twisted knives you threw,
The unseen dreams never claimed
The unseen child abused again
The unseen hate you used to breathe
The unseen man, you need to be
The unseen maker of us all

I'd like to put that to music. With just a piano and duet 1 guy, 1 girl. What do you all think?

This guy was in my youth group for as long as I can remember. I never thought much, or little of him. He was James and James was all I knew him as. There were times when I thought he was a little, different. Something I couldn't place my finger on. Then one night, Alex, Brett, James, and myself had some of the most deep, meaningful conversations. Ones that I can't even begin to copy on my own. I met the real James that night and learned what he was all about and what truths he knew that he could teach me. That is why I post for you today a letter that I got from him a few days ago regarding the recent London attacks.

This is what makes him different, this is what he gets that the rest of us need to realize.



Hey everyone I had just heard about what had happened in London. And I
would like to bring this to yall's attention. Everyone (meaning our country
and other countries) is all mad about this War On Terrorism and deem that it
is not necessary. Well I bet if you ask anyone remotely related to people
in those subways I will gaurantee that they will say this war is necessary.
Or even ask someone who lost a loved one or a close friend on Sept. 11,
2005. They will say the same. Now I ask you this why do you think that MY
fellow marines, sailors, soldiers, and airmen are over there? Well I think
that they are over there to help STOP and eventually help prevent these
things to happen again. We have given up our freedoms and our lives to help
protect you as you are the voice of this great nation and as my family and
friends. I am glad to do so. Knowing that you are able to have all of this
freedom and all of what this nation has to offer. And I ask that you will
never underestimate why we are fighting and who we are fighting. I will
gladly stand for you because if I don't than who will?? I would ask that you
please if anything still support our troops no matter what. Please be
praying fo us that are serving as it is a hard time, when we see close
friends die and lose someone that we trained next to for so long. And Don't
let us be forgotten.

SEMPER FI
LCpl Rardin, James L.

Live 8.

That was the name of the most widely watched concert our globe has ever seen. On Saturday July 2nd , 2005, an estimated 3 Billion people "united with one voice" and asked that world poverty be ended. Many popular bands/artists that gave their time, and their money to make their views known. Here are just a few that were there:

Dave Matthews Band
U2
Will Smith
Bon Jovi
Toby Keith
Linkin Park
Maroon 5
Black Eyed Peas
Green Day
Audioslave
Dido
The Cure
Sheryl Crow
REM
Coldplay
Snoop Dogg
Velvet Revolver
Elton John
Jet
Barenaked Ladies
Motley Crue
Simple Plan
Good Charlette


With one voice they said: "Let us end world poverty" they began a focus on the poorest inhabited continent, Africa.

The concert took place around the world, in many prosperous cities which included: London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Philadelphia, Barrie, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Moscow, and the Eden Project.
What amazes me, is how truly amazing this concert really is. How the world is able to rally together and declare that they want to end world poverty, and the Church can't even get over arguing about doctrine. The world is getting something the Church needs to learn, yet the world is still not fully getting it.

This is their plan according to Bob Geldof:
"This is without doubt a moment in history where ordinary people can grasp the chance to achieve something truly monumental and demand from the 8 world leaders at G8 an end to poverty.

The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough.

By doubling aid, fully canceling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children."

[G8= "The G8 brings together the leaders of the worlds most powerful countries – the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia. This year they meet from 6th – 9th July in Gleneagles with Britain’s Prime Minister, Tony Blair hosting the summit.
Tony Blair has put the challenges faced in Africa on the top of the agenda – but the leaders need to know when they sit down that the world is watching them and waiting for them to deliver."]

Why do I bring this up? Read specifically the suggestions that are in blue as mentioned above. They want to fully cancel the debt of Africa. What a great idea! Letting them get off scotch free... Yet do they gain anything from it? Do they receive a "get out of jail free card" only to get sent back into the system they are trapped in now? The problem I have with the message being sent out by the world is that, "Don't worry! It's ok! We'll let you get off free without having to learn any hard lessons!"

Don't get me wrong, Africa has been dealt a lot of crap. Slavery, war, and AIDs have ripped that continent apart, if any country deserves aid it's Africa. But, how do we know that Africa won't slip BACK into the same cycle it's been in for the past few hundred years? How do we know that the lessons have been learned?

Easy, by the fruits that they show. So far, all that I have seen is poverty, and genocide, the fruits of a deeper political problem. One that reminds me of our Christian walk.

In our walk with Christ, there comes times when we have habitual sins which we must deal with. Now Christ could come in and heal us all ridding us of our habitual sins, but would we gain anything more than a tingle down the spine? Would we have anymore strength in our fight against sin? Would we have gained more wisdom? More determination? No. Christ allows us to go through hardship, so that we might learn a lesson and not go down the same path again.

It is when we fight the good fight, and win that we gain freedom. Freedom from our habitual sins, freedom from poverty, freedom from oppression.

That is why America is such a strong country. That is why God allows us to go through hardship, and that it why Africa can not be made into a prosperous country overnight. Their governments must learn. And at the same time, America, and the other countries of G8, must be the "accountability partners of Africa". We should guide them down the path that will lead them to a place of political and social stability.

Now coming back full circle. Live 8 was about voices being heard. What do you want? Let your voice be heard. 3 Billion people want Africa to begin healing. I am one of them. But how will it begin? How will the healing of our world begin?

You decide.