What's Your Grade?

     So I haven't been writing lately, because I have felt that I have nothing to say.  I felt like God hasn't really been telling me anything, or showing me anything new.  Then I thought a little bit more.  Well, maybe He hasn't been showing me anything because I haven't been asking Him to.  What a concept, right?  I mean, how's He to show me something if I don't let Him? 

     A while back, I remember writing something like: If you ask God for something, expect to get it.  (That's not a direct quote - I don't know what I said exactly.)   I meant don't ask Him for, for example, patience, unless you are willing to have to work to get it. 

     That's what was going through my head, I think.  But I was thinking the wrong way.  When I said that, I didn't mean "If you don't want to work for something, then don't ask God to give it to you."  That would not be any help to you at all.  I should have been more clear (to myself), compelling myself to change my attitude towards growing in Him. We should want to grow in Christ.  We should want to become closer to our beautiful Savior.  We should want to do His will with all of our hearts.  Shouldn't we?  

     So I was asking myself why I am not feeling close to God.  Why don't I feel moved to do as He commands?  Well, maybe because I didn't want to.  I don't really think that I wanted to give up control of my life.  

     I can't count the times that I have been moved by the Holy Spirit's presence.  There have been times when I have just been on my knees crying, pleading for my Savior to take the wheel.  And I would feel moved toward Him all that week, or maybe that month.  But when that month was over, I would just fall into a routine.  I wouldn't really care if I read my Bible or not.  I would just kind of read through it to get it over with, to stop that nagging voice in my head.  Then I would stop reading it all together.  I would still pray every night, but I would very rarely pay attention to the words coming out of my mouth.  

     Then I would start disobeying God, intentionally.  He has been getting onto me about some of the books I read.  They are books that a lot of people have read, and books that I have read, but as I was reading them, I was caring less and less about what my Savior had to say to me.  I soon became calloused to His voice.  I was no longer feeling as guilty about reading these books.  I found myself thinking disgusting things.  I found myself not caring about other people's needs.  

     On the outside, there was no change in me, but on the inside, I was becoming quite horrible.  If you looked at me on a daily basis, you would see a good little Christian girl who always went to church and always served others and always thought of others before herself.  If you had looked in my mind, you would have been taken back at how very different I really was from that girl you saw at school.   Now that I am looking at my attitude of the past month or so, I can't believe that I didn't realize it until tonight!  I am so ashamed of myself.  I can't believe that I have been so uncaring toward my Lord and Savior!  

     Think about your prayer life.  Do you have one?  Is it healthy?  Or are you just going through the motions?  Do you really care what God has to say to you?  Do you really want an amazing relationship with the One who took your sins?  Or are you just trying to get out of Hell?  Are you just trying to pass with a "C"?  Try to shoot for A+ + +.

"³²Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

 ³³But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."  Matthew 10:32-33

READ THE PREVIOUS ENTRY BEFORE THIS ONE!

 Okay, I gave you a chance to answer some of the questions I asked yesterday... now time for what I think!  Feel free to argue (POLITELY) if you disagree with me on any of this...

1. Who are you?
1. I am Tyler Nicole Henke, co-heirs with Christ Jesus, and daughter of God.
2. Where did the world come from?
1. The world came from God's Hand.
3. Why do humans, as they grow older, loose the sense of wonder they had as children?
1. As we grow older, things that we have wondered about previously, like the fact that an airplane can fly or a dog can bark, become commonplace, and cease to amaze us as we see them more often.
4. Do you still wonder?  Why or why not?
1. I wonder at some things.  I wonder at the fact that God's perfect Son could come to Earth and live a life with sinners, then die for those sinners.  At the same time, I wonder at how erasers work.  I wonder about many things in between.
5. Why is Lego the most ingenious toy in the world?
1. It is virtually indestructible.  You can't break a Lego, and you can build and rebuild things over and over again, take them apart, and build something else.
6. Do you believe that there is a minimal part of which nature exists?
1. Maybe...
7. Do humans have souls?  Why or why not?
1. Yes, humans have souls.  God created humans in His image, which means that we have a physical body and a soul.
8. Do you believe in fate?
1. To a certain extent; I believe that God knows what is going to happen, but we are the ones who make the choices leading up to that.
9. What forces govern the course of history?
1. Men.  I think that men govern the course of history - or at least, men determine what others know about history.  Men write it down - not women, for the most part.  I think it would be really interesting to read some of the ancient history form a woman's perspective...
10. Is sickness a punishment for some bad deed or deeds?
1. No. Sickness is a natural part of life.  
11. Socrates believed that if people know what is right, they will do what is right.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?
1. I do not agree, because people know that stealing cookies from the cookie jar is wrong, but it doesn't mean that they won't do it.   
12. How can a baker bake fifty absolutely identical cookies?
1. I don't think it's possible - even though they all came from the same place (one cookie mold) one cookie could have more chocolate chips, one could have more sugar... 
13. Why do all horses look the same?
1. Because they are horses.  A horse doesn't look like a pig.  It looks like a horse.  You can tell that a horse is a horse because it is a horse, and it looks like a horse... does that make any sense?
14. Do humans have an immortal soul?
1. Yes.  Your soul will live on after your body dies; where it lives is totally up to you.
15. Are men and women equally sensible?
1. I think that women are a bit more sensible than men in some issues.  A woman would have no sense when deciding whether or not to buy the Cookie Dough Ice Cream that just went on sale.  However, and man wouldn't have much sense in front of a football game.
16. Is right and wrong something absolute or does it change with location, culture, and time period?  Why or why not?
1. Some things do, but some don't.  For example, it's never alright to kill someone.  It's never alright to steal.  But in some cultures, it is perfectly fine to use explicit language.  I think it just depends on the situation.
17. Are we born with innate ideas?
1. I think not.  When we are born, we don't have the idea of a horse in out heads.  We don't know what a horse looks like, nor do we know what a horse is...  
18. What is the difference between plant, animal, and human?
1. Plants need food and water to thrive, but don't have instincts, don't know the difference between right and wrong, and they can't get up and move around.  Animals need food and water to survive, have instincts, and can get up and move around, but I don't think they know the difference between right and wrong.  Humans need food and water to live, have instincts, know the difference between right and wrong, and can get up and move around.
19. Why does it rain?
1. Well, scientifically speaking, it rains because of the water cycle.  But I believe that everything has a purpose, so if rain weren't needed, it wouldn't rain.  I think that God makes it rain so that He can provide for the needs of His creations.  He just provided us with a scientific explanation.
20. What does it take to have a good life?
1. I don't think we can really live a good life...  We are human.  Therefore, we sin.  Because we sin, our lives are stained.  So, we can't live a good life if our lives are dirty...

Warning: Contents should only be read under EXTREME boredom! The questions require a LOT of thinking!

I am taking a Humanities course in school, and we are studying a book called Sophie's World.  It is about the history of philosophy.  It's pretty neat, because it isn't dry and boring - it has a plot line, and it is written like a novel.  I enjoy it.

Well, anyway, a lot of philosophers are mentioned in this book, along with the questions that they answer.  We have had several discussions in class about these questions.  Some of my favorite are:

1. Who are you?
2. Where did the world come from?
3. Why do humans, as they grow older, loose the sense of wonder they had as children?
4. Do you still wonder?  Why or why not?
5. Why is Lego the most ingenious toy in the world?
6. Do you believe that there is a minimal part of which nature exists?
7. Do humans have souls?  Why or why not?
8. Do you believe in fate?
9. What forces govern the course of history?
10. Is sickness a punishment for some bad deed or deeds?
11. Socrates believed that if people know what is right, they will do what is right.  Do you agree?  Why or why not?
12. How can a baker bake fifty absolutely identical cookies?
13. Why do all horses look the same?
14. Do humans have an immortal soul?
15. Are men and women equally sensible?
16. Is right and wrong something absolute or does it change with location, culture, and time period?  Why or why not?
17. Are we born with innate ideas?
18. What is the difference between plant, animal, and human?
19. Why does it rain?
20. What does it take to have a good life?

I am interested in hearing (or, more appropriately, reading your thoughts on this subject... Please put them in the comments.  YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO!