I know, I know… it's been a really long time since I've updated my blog… But I have legitimate reasons! First off, Dad took the entire month of September off from work and we've been very busy working on a new barn for our goats. It has 4 stalls, a hayloft, and the middle is big enough to drive a 9 foot vehicle through it! … I'll post a few pictures of it in a second.

Second, Megan came back to visit with us again and is spending the month. This day last week, Megan and I officially started courting each other. Courting, unlike dating, is a pure relationship in preparation for marriage. There is no touching, or kissing. The Bible also warns us against fornication, in numerous places:

But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;  (Ephesians 5:3)

Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
(Ephesians 5:7)

Thirdly, Megan and I both registered Facebook accounts. Strange, yes. It's starting to grow on me, now that I'm learning my way around, and have installed a Firefox addon to block all the Facebook ads… (Now, we just need to come up with some way to hide billboard ads from windshields!) It's definitely a big place with lots and lots of people. You can find me here… feel free to add me as a friend =)

Nonresistance is a a belief and practice that is frowned upon by most Americans as well as latter day "Christians", who believe that they will die with their guns in their hands, resisting the law enforcement, state or government for their guns, or for their "faith".

First off, what sort of picture are you painting? A picture of a "Christian" pointing a double barreled shotgun down a police officer's nose, screaming "I'm a Big B. Baptist Christian! You'll never take me alive!"? Pray tell me how you see this man as a Christian?

Christians don't act like that. We begin reading in Matthew chapter 5 and see that Christ paints an entirely different picture. Matthew chapter 5 is most commonly called the "Beatitudes" or "The Sermon on the Mount". Let's start out in verse number 3:

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

So, blessed are the poor in spirit, they that mourn, the meek, those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. That to me does not look like the picture of the man holding the shotgun, who calls himself a Christian. Is he truly someone who is meek, merciful, pure in heart and a peacemaker?

But that's not all…

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

So when persecution arises, we're supposed to gun down our enemies for the sake of Christ and the Gospel? Think again…

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of heck fire.

As Christians, we are not to kill, but also if we are angry with our brother without cause, we have sinned. That's pretty important stuff here. John tells us that whoso hateth his brother, is a murder:

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Oaths also come up in this topic of nonresistance. Government officials must take oaths, as do police officers, and anyone serving in any branch of the militay. (Children are also taught at a very young age to pledge their allegiance to their country, and not to God.) But even in this self same chapter of Matthew, Christ tells us not to swear oaths.

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

As New Testament Christians, and followers of Christ and his teachings, we are not allowed to swear oaths, or by any means swear at all, for any cause. This immediately disqualifies Christians for any public office, branch of the government, or branch of the military.

Yet not for that reason only… If you are in a position of nonviolence, yet authority, you could be giving the orders to have someone executed or persecuted. As a Christian, we can not even be in these positions for the following reasons:

1. Matthew 5:21 & 22 states that we are not to kill, or even be angry with our brother without a cause. Being in a position of authority where you give orders allows you to sentence people to death. Whether your are the executioner or the commander, you are guilty of killing this man.
2. Matthew 5:34 tells us "Swear not at all". To be in such a position, you must swear an oath to uphold your position, the Constitution and the Country. This includes the President, Congressmen, Senators, Generals, men in armed forces, Police officers, etc.
3. Matthew 5:43 & 44, which we will read in just a moment.

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

We are commanded to love our enemies, by Christ. You can't show a very loving example to your enemies, if you are invading their country, knocking down their doors, holding them at gunpoint, blowing up their towns and buildings, dropping bombs on their cities, starving their children or blowing up their vehichles.

You can't be in that position, and be a Christian. You are not showing the love and compassion of Christ on your enemies. You are playing the pawn in some powerful agenda, which knows not Christ, but are of their father, the Devil.

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Christ himself lived his life as an example for us, so that we might follow him in all things. When they sought to take his life on numerous times, he escaped out of the midst of them. He did not fight them. When Peter cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant, Christ healed his ear, even though this servant was here to take him away. Christ was beaten, scourged and crucified, and never once resisted them.

1Pe 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
1Pe 2:22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
1Pe 2:23  Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

He is our perfect example in all things, and we must learn to put our trust and hope in Him.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48)

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
(1 Peter 1:15-16)

It has always irritated me how that when I viewed my RSS Feed, whether the "Full Text" setting was enabled or not, the Description never included the complete post; It was in the <content:encoded> tag.

So, I did some hunting and searching just a minute ago to fix this problem. I actually fixed this problem by editing the code. I personally would rather have my entire post in the feed, instead of just a summary with a link to the full post. I mean, after all, if I am subscribing to feed with Feedmailer, I would at least like to get the full post in the email, instead of just a one liner description.

So, here's the fix. You need to edit wp-includes/feed-rss2.php and change line 42 from <?php the_excerpt_rss() ?> to <?php the_content() ?>

Maybe someone should make a plugin that is a setting to do this. I have no experience or knowledge on how to write Wordpress plugins, though, so this is just a simple fix for me.

I was carrying the video camcorder around with me today, and just remembered that the LCD screen on it flips out and swivels. So I got the bright idea to record myself, since nobody else uses it and gets me in any videos, lol

It was truely random, and a spur of the moment type thing.
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