A very, very short poem to all of you hoping for a new post:

Busy though I be:
I forget not thee!

New post coming soon. :)

So for all of you who wonder why I have not posted recently...

;)

Just so ya'll wouldn't get lonely.

Allie Presley-Dragons

My friend Allie made this amazing post on her blog. I've been thinking about a lot of this stuff for a while, and she said it better then I could have. Seriously. Go read it:

Seeing From The Valley-Amazing Dragons Post

Top 5ness-Disney Movies

I have totally forgotten about my lonely Top 5ness label for the past few weeks. How sad. :( Well the wait is over! And it's all about the Disney movies. Call me a sucker for the things that were made in my generation, but most of my favorites are from the 90's. :)

1. Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)- I really like this one mainly because it was made in an age when movie makers had no fear of openly promoting Christianity. The cathedral has images of Mary and Jesus and that's who Esmerelda turns to when she is in trouble. Now I know that it's Catholic, but hey--that's pretty close. The images of the architecture are stunning. My favorite image is the one where you see the cathedral breaking through the clouds. The songs are well done. Even though it's a children's movie it has the characters struggling with deep sin issues and tough choices. It's overall a great movie. 

2. Hercules (1997)- I enjoy watching it mostly because of all the references to Greek mythology, and the portrayal of the gods is especially entertaining. The self-sacrificing theme towards the end is great. 

3. Robin Hood (1973)- This is a movie that's just plain fun to watch. I love seeing the characters interact with each other, it has a great plot. The movie-makers did a great job playing up the wittiness and brilliance of Robin Hood and they do justice to the original authors of the Robin Hood stories. The directors did a great job of portraying the despair and crushing sadness when everybody is locked up in jail.

4. Aladdin (1992)- First of all I love how evil Jafar is. He's just evil all over from his turban to his curled-toed shoes. X) The Genie is hilarious. I love the extravagance of the parade when Prince Ali shows up. 

5. Tangled (2010)- Yes, yes I know it's a princess movie. This is up here because I feel like it's deeper then the other ones, the songs are fun, and I like the Kingdom Dance. But mostly because it has Flynn Rider. Or Eugine Fitzherbert if you prefer. Either way he's a great character. 

My Lord and my God

In The Screwtape Letters Lewis warns against Christian using the phrase "My God" in the wrong way. In one of his letters Screwtape informs his nephew Wormwood that he should try to make the phrases "My dog," and "My shoes," synonymous to the phrase "My God." Of course in doing so Lewis warns against this. If we think of "Our God" in the same way as our personal belongings then we will have totally the wrong view of God's sovereignty over us. We will begin to think that God is at our beck-and-call, ready to give us the things we pray to Him for, ready to smite all our enemies whenever they get annoying, ready to send His son for our sins etcetera, etcetera ad nauseum.

The phrase "My God" is not even, for us Americans, like the phrase "My country." As Americans we view our country as something that is ours, that we own, invest in, and have freedoms in. This might be the correct way to think of a country (Maybe. I'm not getting into that political discussion), but it's still not the way to think of "Our God."

The phrase that is most synonymous to "My God"--in its correct usage-- is "My King." If I had a king, I would be on his side, and he would be on mine, but he would be the one totally in control of me. I have no say in what he does, and my life basically belongs to him. I would live for him and serve him, and he would be mine, but not mine. The real meaning of this phrase says that "I AM HIS."


"Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God."

Forgotten Attributes- God's Judgement

This is the first post in a series that I will be giving about something that has been bothering me for quite some time, namely, the attributes of God that we modern Christians are often guilty of forgetting. 


In modern times many Christians have forgotten certain attributes of God, and even those of us who remember them do not take them as seriously as we ought. The first attribute of God that I am going to address is the attribute of judgment. 

Definition (New Oxford Dictionary):

               judgment: "a misfortune or calamity viewed as a divine punishment"

Please note that there are many verses which use the word "judgment" according the the more general definition, "the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions." This is not what I'm talking about. The word judgment in this post is synonymous to the word "punishment".  

Bible verses: 
Exodus 12:12  (KJV)-For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.


Ezra 7:26 (KJV)- And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.


Psalms 7:6 (KJV)- Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.


Psalms 9:8 (KJV)- And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.


Psalms 9:16 (KJV)- The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.


Psalms 37:28 (KJV)- For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.


Ecclesiastes 11:19 (KJV)- Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.


Isaiah 4:4 (KJV)- When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.


Isaiah 42:1 (KJV)-  Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.


Matthew 5:21 (KJV)- Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment


Matthew 10:15 (KJV)- Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.


John 12:31 (KJV)- Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Romans 1:32 (KJV)- Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.


Romans 2:3 (KJV)- And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?


Alright, now that there are verses on the table, what do these verses say about that God's judgment? Well you'll have to actually read those verses, but they make it clear that:


     1. God does pass judgment on the wicked.


     2. That God's judgment is righteous. 


    Both of these things should be fairly obvious. The Bible makes it clear that God cannot stand wickedness and will not have it in His presence, so it makes sense that He eradicates those who are wicked. 
    It also makes sense that all of God's judgments are righteous. God is omnibenevolent, so all the things that God does are good. Judgment is one of the things God does, therefore judgment is good. 
    Why, if these two things are so obvious, do many modern Christians forget, water-down, or ignore the judgement of God? There are a few reasons, and one of them is that we as humans are uncomfortable with the idea of judgment. If we recognize our depravity then the knowledge that we will be punished is very disturbing to us. 
    But many modern Christians go entirely the wrong way after this. Instead of being convicted and repenting some Christians just decide that God doesn't punish us as a way of comforting themselves. The end result of this is that they ignore the perversion, immorality, and obscenity of sin. 
    One off-shoot of ignoring the wickedness of sin is that when evangelizing we emphasize God's forgiveness and love, and (sometimes very intentionally) ignore God's wrath and judgment. This leads to a very unbalanced view of God, especially for someone who's newly entering the Faith. 
    There is a website that argues that God actually does not punish us as Christians. It clearly says (in big, blue letters might I add) that "We do not see a God who punishes, but rather a God that seeks to restore us to our full humanity." 
    Oh goodness. Where do I begin? First of all- Mr. Simmons is absolutely right. God doesn't punish anyone for sin. It's not as though anybody had to die in order to restore our wrecked relationship with God (please note the sarcasm). Second- How can God "restore us to our full humanity" without abolishing our sinful, former selves?  In order to unite us (fallen, depraved, disgusting as we are) with Himself, God *has* to deal out punishment for the nauseating sins that we have committed. And Christ was the one who took that punishment for us, though many Christians today take that to mean that there was not punishment. 


"Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

Fill in the blank!

Yes for Awesomeness Points. But only those in my Comp. II class will be able to answer this one, unless you're a *very* good guesser. :) In order to get all of these right you'll have to look at one of my recent Flash Forum posts. 

Poor, unfortunate _____! Who could have know that when his ____ built the two ____ of ____ he made one with slightly less ___ then the other? Who could have foreseen that _____, desperate for _____, would betray his own son to a _____ grave? For when did any man see the crafty _____ scheming deep within the ______?  Did any here see the vile _____ enter his ___ as he realized that only ____ would escape more _____ then ____? Who knew that the pressure of _____ would eventually cause the gruesome ____ of such a _____, bright ___? No ____, ___ one, no one. No one but the debase ____ that could conceive such a ____ plan, then fain such ____ when it came to _____.  


;)

"Opportunity" [by Edward Rowland Sill] Rewrite

There is a great battle in the desolate midst of the Desert of Doom. The two mighty nations arrange themselves for battle, with teeth gritted, eyes squinting in the brightness and the hatred. The ruthless sun glares down on the glittering metal that covers the soldier’s bodies. And then there is the mindless slashing, slicing, and stabbing of the two nations as they kick up a sand cloud that is seen for miles round in the Land of Doom. I am the sword that a soldier splintered and threw down. I lay broken in the sandy dust as the battle raged around me, now silently I watch the blood spray, the swords ring, and the lives severed. My slivers lay sparkling about me in the midst of the chaos. My eyes grow dark and my limbs grow cold. Never more would a soldier grasp my solid hilt again, never more would I dance in the sun, cutting short the lives of mortal men, never more would I be placed quietly to rest after a long day’s slaughter in my sheath of soft leather. Now I lay in naught but death’s numb embrace, and the sanguine sands in the Land of Doom. But then I feel a strong hand reach for me. I throw open my eyes and behold the glorious face of the king’s son. He regards me with a solemn eye, and then a smile leaps to his lips. He lifts my shattered form high above his head, giving a rousing battle-cry! Ah, the warriors fall like stalks of grass before the might of the prince that day, he rouses his men, and routes the enemy, sending them fleeing off into the very withering heart of the Land of Doom.

I love folding papers and things. ^_^

Anyone who has sat by me at a seminar, play, or Bible study will probably notice that I folded up my paper pretty quickly. If I don't desperately need a flier, agenda, or hand-out then it will soon become either a water balloon or one of various kinds of airplanes. Here's one example of some major-scale page folding:

It's just an abstract shape, nothing too impressive.. And I hope nobody needs that book on Constitutional Law for a while...

I would love to be able to do some of this later on:

The Post About Awesomeness Points..

As of today I am instituting the Official D.C. Salmon Awesomeness Points System! This system applies to all the people who know me. There are a few ways to get points:

-Answer questions (You will find little questions around my blog--and elsewhere *hint,hint*-- if you look carefully enough. When you send me an e-mail with the answer, you will receive points. Please go out of your way to find and answer questions.)

 -Advertise my organizations (Mainly this blog, by mentioning it on Facebook, Google+, your blog or any other place where people will find out about it. This is the other one where I would LOVE for you to go out of your way to get points.)

-Acts of service. (Pretty much just doing things for me. Like helping me edit something I wrote, or taking me to the EOTYG. ;) Almost any sized act will get points. I'll make it more fair by not counting most of the acts done for me by people that I've actually met.)

 -Be funny (Pretty much just in the way you act, things you say, things you post.. Don't change your habits or go out of your way to be extra funny though.. I'll just find that annoying..)

-Show talent (If you can prove that you can do something that I can't do then I'll give more points. You also get points for doing something I didn't expect you to be able to do. If it has to do with some of my interests, then even more points.)

-Writing! (This is actually mostly about my writing.. If you can prove that you think my writing is good you get points. I love it when people like my writing. So this doesn't mean say "Oh Cooper I love your writing soo much!" It means actually posting something that I wrote or something like that. Also if you get me to help you write something.. I like that. Re-working a sentence and stuff like that.)

-Other (Some other things that don't fit in any of those categories.. :P)


                                            Here's the way I envision Awesomeness Points:

By the end of the year some of your collections should look like this:

:)

I'm not actually going to tell you all the opportunities you have to get points. Sometimes you'll just have to guess. The things like when I ask questions are the easy ones. If you have an answer to a question you must send the answer in an e-mail. I will not except it if you post it as your status or send me a chat with the answer. In the e-mail please include the question that you answered, and "Bonus Points" in the subject. Also-if I probably won't give points for intentionally going out of your way to fulfill these, except for Answering Questions and Advertising My Organizations. Please feel free to do those as often as you can!

If you posted about my blog please e-mail me and include a link showing me when you did so. :)

Allie Presley is the first person to get bonus points for answering a question (Huzzah!!!), and Katie Montgomery and Meridian Paulton are currently tied for the lead, for taking me to the EOTYG and commenting a lot on my blog respectively.

Did I mention that the winner will get a prize? Point gathering for this year closes Dec. 15th, 2012. I'm gonna make it very worth your while. :) Keep competing!

Water.. In the sky?

Have you ever thought about clouds in depth? Apart from the obvious "Oh no there are a whole bunch of clouds- it's going to rain"? Think about it. There is water. Clumped together into a giant marshmallow. In the sky. What in the world is it doing up there?

Did someone try to pull a practical joke? Was water cursed by some ancient god who wanted to separate it from it's precious earth for a little while? Did some alchemist make a dreadful error while trying to turn water into gold?  Out of all the random places to put water: Why the sky? Yes, yes, because of evaporation, condensation, vituperation, and so on and so forth. But really.. Water is slippery. You can't even just put water on a table and expect it to stay together in one clump, much less throw it in the sky. Water is also heavy. I've carried packs of water bottles and I've found the it's not the lightest thing. Certainly not light enough to just hang in the sky.

But it does. Most of the water we see in this dry climate is in the sky, yet I have never been worried about walking under a cloud for fear that the whole thing would fall down and crush me like a giant, watery cinder block. And this whole post does not result from a lack of General Science course- I know that it has to do with which phase the water is in. But really-If you think about it- Why can water float just because the molecules aren't close together?

Why? Because that's the kind of God we have. Because He made his creation so that it's perfectly ordered, but still wondrous. Because He can do things like that. He's all powerful after all. We modern (High and mighty look upon the rustic ancients) humans may glory in our science, we may revel in our knowledge and we may put our faith in our own brainy-ness. But all of that is just us playing by God's rules.

"And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do."

Top 5ness-Highest Songs

I'm sure it doesn't surprise the people who know me that all 5 of my top 5ness songs are from the mighty Blind Guardian.. They're the bestestest (Notice the triple superlative) because they have incredible talent and amazing subjects to sing of, for they sing songs of The Cantebury Tales, The Iliad, King Arthur, Greek mythology and Norse mythology and many other things of olden times. Does any other band hold a candle to such amazingness?

1. And Then There Was Silence- It's hands down, no other can surpass it, you'd have to brain-wash me *twice* to get me to forget it, the best song in existence. Across all genres. The raw power shines through the incredible lyrics. It's about the Trojan War, and it's too amazing to be cut down to the normal size of a song. I get shivers ever single time I listen to it. I should have put this song as all 5 of my Top 5ness Highest Songs. It just shows the desperate spirit of the Trojans, the claustrophobia as the Greeks press inward, the unbridled emotions of both sides. This is *the* amazing song. 

Here are the lyrics  if you care to actually know what these tongues of gold are singing.

"In the end, Raise my hands and praise the day, Break the spell show me the way in decay the flame of Troy will shine bright."

2. The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight- This tells the story of two lovers, of the immense pain in separation, and of the intense, passionate, deep-seated feelings of love. I haven't read the book this story is from, so I don't know if this was a legitimate marriage or not. Either way this is a great song. 

"Forever it stands until the world ends, the victorious banner of love!"

3. The Bard's Song- Is a wonderfully written, masterfully played piece of almost classical guitar playing. It's a moving and yet calming song. Sadly I know not from whence it comes. :( I think it has something to do with LOTR, because it mentions Hobbits, Elves and Men. 

 "And you're not alone, so don't be afraid in the dark and cold, cuz the Bard's Songs will remain, they all will remain, in my thoughts and in my dreams they're always in my mind."

4. Battlefield- This is a really energetic song that demonstrates the fervor in the midst of battle. It reminds me of when Gandalf faces off with the Balrog because of the 

"I challenge thee: Do not cross this bridge!", 

"I will not move yet. I stand still instead.", 

"There on the battlefield he stands, down on the battlefield he's lost" 

lines. 

"Let's pray that heaven's on our side, through violence and horror now honor arise!"

5. In The Forest-The Hobbit- I love this song mostly just because I've read The Hobbit and know the story well enough to really get the references made to it. 

"I'll take the mighty stone, and leave the dwarves behind."

Honorable mentions: The Curse Of Feanor, Valhalla, Nightfall, A Past And Future Secret.

Nota Bene- To Mr. Davis: I give you hearty and deep-felt thanks. You introduced me to Blind Guardian, and my life has never been the same since. :)

Muse Pictures From Google+

Top 5ness-Avatar Characters

I am now instituting a weekly Top 5 (Known as "Top 5ness"), thanks to the influences of Mr. Davis! Now, considering my desktop back ground:

I decided to do: (you guessed it!) My top 5 favorite Avatar characters. :)

1. Uncle Iroh: Iroh is my favorite character, take all. He always stands up for what's right, sticks with Zuko even when rejected, forgives and gives help to those who need him. He could have been very bitter about the death of his son and the exile by his younger brother, but he turns the other cheek.

2. Zuko: Alright, I admit that Zuko deals with a little bit of an anger issue, but aside from that he is a really determined guy. His experiences brought him lower then any of the other characters in the show, and he emerged with his good qualities shining. He stood up against his dad and his council to defend the lives of Fire Nation soldiers and he's punished for it, but he still sticks up for right.

3. Toph: I like Toph mostly because I like her attitude. She's one of the most strong-willed people in the show. Nuff said.

4. Sokka: I like Sokka because I relate to him. Unfortunately I realized this in the first episode when he utterly fails at a fight with Zuko (while he's still a bad-guy of course). He's pretty funny, he's courageous, he loves his family and he's willing to die for the cause, and his friends and family.

5. Mai: The thing that notched Mai up onto this list was when she blatantly crossed Zuko's sister (Azula), and that was possibly the bravest thing she ever did. Blatantly contradicting Azula could have resulted in her torture, and death, and she knew it.

Honorable mentions: King Boomi (for his wisdom and general wackiness) and Katara (for her rousing Rhetorical abilities on the Earth-Nation prison ship)