Why do we stand with our eyes fixated on the back of the cross?

I couldn’t get my mind off of this one question and thought throughout the entirety of chapel last night. It just kept sticking with me. I know that God was telling and teaching me something with this, and I knew I had to write about it and share my thoughts. I couldn’t get the picture of me staring at the back of the cross not being able to walk around and look Jesus in the eyes and see what I had been doing and forgive myself for it. I sat in the cushioned seat in chapel and kept seeing Jesus die in front of me, but me not having the courage to walk around and see Him in front of me, and instead I turned around and walked away, going down the same path I had been walking, a path that was not paved by God Himself.

Why do we find ourselves in this position so much? We cause damage to our spirit, we cause damage to ourselves, we cause damage to Christ, and yet, we can’t bear to see the damage we are doing so we just keep doing it and shrug it off our shoulders and say “next time, next time I’ll be better.”

We consistently stare at the back of the cross, the clean side, the side untouched by the perfect blood of the Lamb, and we can’t bear to walk around and see our King, damaged by the sins we have committed that He has taken care of for us already. It’s so difficult for us to walk around and see Christ nailed to the cross because we do not want to face what we have done, the brokenness that we caused by being sinners (which there is no escape from). We should not be ashamed of the sins we commit, but learn from them. Make sure that we learn and do not fall again, but if we keep walking the path we go down, we will continue to commit crimes against our Lord. Until we learn to do that, until we learn to accept what we have done and learn from it, and look Christ in the eyes and accept His forgiveness, we will get nowhere on our own.

It shouldn’t be hard for us to admit to God the sins we have committed and ask for forgiveness. He wants us to, it’s why He sacrificed His Son for us, so we could be cleansed by His blood and have a future of perfection with Him in Heaven. We need to learn to take our faults straight to Him, to walk around the cross and look Him in the eyes as we bow at His feet above us. We need to see the damage we have caused as sinners, and watch as the blood flows and cleanses us of our sins and makes us whole with Him again.

I’m sick of looking at the back of the cross, turning around, and walking with the devil on my shoulder. I’m done being ignorant to the One who made me a priority. I can’t live my life staring at the back of Christ as He shouts my name from the cross. I’m done not hearing His voice scream my name to the crowds of Roman soldiers in front of Him as I turn and walk away. He’s calling me more than ever now, and I’m shrugging the devil off my shoulder and walking around to face Him as He died for me. There is no greater love than that, than the love He shows for me and you. I’m laying my life at his feet so that when He rises again He can come to me and lift me back up and say to me “Well done, my son.” It’s time to find out who I am, it’s time to find out who He wants me to be. And the only way I can do that is by facing Him head on and chasing after Him, looking Him in the eyes and asking for more. More grace, more love, more blessings.

I know I’m ready to grow and face my demons as I face the Creator who made it possible to conquer them.

The question I have for you is, are you? Take the few steps it takes to walk around the cross and stand with the Roman centurions and watch as your sins die with the One who sacrificed His life to take them with Him. Because when He went to heaven and left earth for three days, our sins went with Him, but they left for eternity, never to be seen or remembered again. God doesn’t remember them, so why do we dwell on them? It’s time for action.

I’m acting.

James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

1 Peter 4:15- “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is one with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly live for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do… They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready too judge the living and the dead.”

Just Get Me to a Show

Personally, I love going to shows. Some people call them concerts, others shows. It really depends on the genre of music you’re going to and who you talk to about it. For me, going to any hardcore show is what really drives me and helps me feel better about anything. When I’m having a rough time, or going through a hard patch in life, shows help me release whatever negative feelings that are bringing me down. Not because I get frustrated and release all my anger out on others while moshing in the pit at a show, but because of all the positive energy that’s there in the crowd.

Going to a show is the best way for me to worship my Creator, especially when I go to any August Burns Red show. Their music has impacted my life so deeply and positively that when I’m at a show, ‘singing’ along to every word with Jake Luhrs, my hands up and raised, I feel God’s presence more than ever before. Going to shows helps me feel so much better. Moshing, running around, slamming into other people, it may sound strange and negative and frustrating, but there’s just something about it that makes me feel so much better and have so much fun, especially when I’m there with my friends.

There are times when I go through “show-withdrawal” as my friends and I call it, and I’m in one of those times now. I just keep reminding myself that I’m seeing Underoath in six days and all of that goes away, and I absolutely can’t wait to go to that show because I need it more than ever right now. I need to be in the pit, moshing with others, body checking others and running around, sweating, bathing in sweat that doesn’t belong to me, screaming along with hundreds of other guys and girls to every word.

I need shows to survive, shows help me get through life, and without them, I don’t know where I would be. Call me crazy, but that’s who I am. A crazy hardcore kid.

Being front row during stuff like this is why I’m alive.

Guest blog! “Can I add a little somethin’ somethin’?”

This week, I have decided to do a guest blog for our Topic of the Week. I have chosen to partner up with my good friend Tara Duffy, cause she’s awesome and a great writer and writes awesome stuff that I like a lot. Here is her post, which can be found here.

Once upon a time there was a man who would state his opinion and people would take it as fact. There would be no questioning of his theology or where he got his information. What he said was true and could be questioned. Then along came this younger man who had great ideals and a curious heart. After the first man would give out his information, the younger man would ask a question and cause those around him to think constructively and figure out together what the truth was. At first there was conflict. ‘Who does this guy think he is questioning this Man?’ started being asked by the people who sat and listened to their dialogue. Only after these questions were asked did the people see that they were changing themselves. No longer were they an audience of life, but participants of debates. The older man was quite stunned what a simple question could do to the vast majority. Never in his life have people questioned his word, and now he would have to defend his statements. He was being stretched in ways that never wouldhave occurred if this young man hadn’t showed up. Soon the older man would have talks and the youngman wouldn’t say anything, but the others would ask questions. They took up the idea and ran with it. After more talks ensued and were being debated, the young man decided to leave. There were other towns that needed someone to ask questions. He went to find them and say what others couldn’t.

Our opinion is so important and really can change the way things are run. I believe that everything that is count as fact should be investigated until proven correct. I know that there is a faith-based belief that may go against my rational, but Jesus said to test and make sure you believe what you actually believe. I think that commentsare almost as important as the subject being talked of. Your comments can bring about a new perspective or correct what might have been construed as something rude. Use comments to further knowledge and bring about understanding. If you use them more for correctness than understanding, you are missing the point.

Headlines. Read all about it.

Headlines are vital to any blog or social media site that posts articles  or pieces of written material for the audience to read. Headlines can be the most difficult part of a post to think of, create, and write, as they are the most important in getting the reader’s attention so that they will want to read your post, and then go on to sharing it with others so more people see what you wrote. Here are some ways to improve your headlines and insure that you will get an audience who wants to read what you have:

1. Be clear and creative. Headlines shouldn’t beat around the bush as to what the post is going to be about, and at the same time you want to be creative so that people are actually interested in continuing to the post, clicking the link that will take them to it to read more.

2. Make sure it’s enough characters to be shared on other social media sites like Twitter. Twitter only allows 140 characters, so you may want to keep it under 100 if tweeters want to add hashtags and other information about it in their tweet.

3. Spell check is key in headlines. If one sees a headline that has a basic grammatical or spelling error in it, they won’t think too highly of the writer and will skip over it. Think about it, if you saw a headline that had a misspelled word, would you think you’d want to read the rest of their post based off of the first impression?

4. Going off of 3, first impressions are key. Make the headline outstanding, funny, and interesting.

5. Don’t use a lot of “a”, “the”, “and”, etc, articles. Use as few as possible when writing a headline.

6. Make the headline what the article is really going to be about, and the most important information. Don’t add extraneous info that you can put in the article and save space for in the headline.

7. Make sure your headline excites people enough to see it and show it to others before they even get a chance to look at it themselves.

8. Subtitles are great. That way you can make your headline short and to the point and then you can add more about it in the subtitle.

9. Make your headlines bigger than the font of the article, and the font of your website. That will make them more attractive to the reader and more eye catching.

10. Use good and strong verbs, adverbs, adjectives, etc. They will lighten up the headline and make it more appealing.

Comments, ARE AWESOME.

Blog comments are essential, and everybody loves seeing them. Comments prove that people visited your blog, and leaving them make people happy, so of course you should leave some wherever you go! Blog comments are like extra candy on Halloween, you don’t expect to have so much, but then BAM, there they are, and your night is made.

When you visit a blog, and if you really like it, heck, even if you hate it, it’s still a good thing to leave a comment for the author to see what other people think on the subject. The author put time and effort out of his/her day (that they may or may not have gotten paid for) to write the post you just spent time reading, and they want your feedback and to know what you thought as you read it! Every comment helps, no matter how small or how large it is, author’s enjoy reading and getting them, even if it’s a simple “great post!” Knowing that someone took the time to read what they wrote is a great way to compliment somebody on their writing.

Some things to remember while leaving comments that I have found are:

Be careful what you say on somebody’s post. Just because you disagree completely with what they say doesn’t mean you should post a comment harshly and without reason, completely bashing what they say and believe in. Be careful of your audience, but give your point of view respectfully.

Leave a link to your own blog, so that the author can go to yours and see what you write about, they may like it enough to follow along and leave you some comments in return!

Let them know how good their blog is, and how well it is written. Give them tips on how to improve, and offer advice of your own so they can become a better writer so more people will want to see what they post.

At the same time, read the comments you get with an open mind, and don’t be so quick and rash to come to fumes over what somebody said about your post. Everybody has their own opinion on something, and just because someone does not agree with you does not make them right or wrong in their ways.

Digital or Analog?

There is a very big difference between digital and analog writing. Analog writing has it’s advantages, and so does digital. I personally prefer digital, especially since just about everything now is digital with smartphones, computers, iPads, etc.

With digital writing, it will be on the internet, and everything that goes on the internet is there forever, there is no avoiding that. You can save your drafts that way, and always know where they are, and not risk losing them, which is definitely a huge benefit. Digitally, anybody can see it too, people from all over the world, which can help a lot in getting more feedback as well.

There are several Do’s and Don’t's of digital writing, and though I do not know all of them, I will give some of mine.

DO use pictures. Pictures help a lot, they help attract the reader to your blog and articles, and help them browse. They can also give the reader a good idea of what the post will be about before reading it and if it is something they will be interested in or not.

DON’T ramble. Rambling gets everybody nowhere, and nobody wants to read somebody’s rambles about anything they don’t like.

DO use short paragraphs. Short paragraphs will catch the reader’s eye easier and more clearer, and want them to stay on the page more. If they see a bunch of long paragraphs, they’re not going to want to read all of it and will skip over what could be your best post.

DO be bold in what you say. Be brave, and bold at the same time. It’s your blog, you can post what you want on it, however be careful of what you post. There are some things that you may want to say, but should remain in your head and not on the internet for everyone to see.

DO NOT start arguments or fights on the Internet. That is just a low move to pull on somebody and bashing someone through the internet is rude and immature and should be done so in person with the person you are in a feud with.

DO NOT plagiarize. Not only is it illegal, but it is morally wrong on all accounts. Create your own work for reader’s to see.

DO use other’s for help and guidance. This does not mean plagiarize, it just means use other’s to guide you and be inspired. You can look at other blogs and be inspired by what other’s say and write off of that.

DO use hyperlinks to other people’s blogs you visit. If somebody likes what you write and want to see more on the same topic, link them to others who share the same values or writing topics you do.

DO write often. Write regularly. Writing a lot will help you become a better writer and readers will see that and see your growth as they follow your work.

DO give credit when credit is due.

Dear Past Self:

Dear Freshman Benny,

Haloha amigo. Welcome to your first year of college ya big stud. Don’t worry, it’s okay, I’m from the future, and no, unfortunately I do not have a Delorean. However, I do have good advice for you, and don’t worry, Marty’s kids are fine, Doc took care of that problem already (well, not yet for you, but don’t worry regardless). But anyway, enough of the Back to the Future references (you need to watch those movies again, you should do that, they’re awesome).

Don’t worry too much this year. Things are gonna get to you, but that’s okay, it’s your first year of college and that’s bound to happen. Don’t worry about finding a girlfriend or finding “the one” right now, you won’t. There’s a lot of cool girls out there, but you’ll meet some pretty amazing ones who are better soon enough. And for school work, get it done yo! It’s important! Don’t slack off. You don’t want to learn the hard way, again… and again. Also, be careful of Chartwells. Drink your water, and milk. It will save your life, and keep you from a trip to the emergency room. Also, be wary of your friends, some of them aren’t what they seem to be or make themselves up to be. And chapel, chapel is important. You will fall asleep a lot in it, and that’s okay because you’re still going to learn a lot in the ones you stay awake for, but make sure you actually wake up and make all your requirements.

But overall, take it easy, have fun, make friends (you know you will. You’re pretty awesome).

Enjoy it man, you deserve it. High school’s over, time to start growing up and have fun while you’re still young. Go to concerts, make friends, watch tv shows, do homework, enjoy yourself.

Cleaning Your Copy

Last week I did the NewsU course Cleaning Your Copy, and learned more about grammar and technical issues about writing. It was a very good course to take, and I would recommend it for other students.

What I learned: I learned more about the technicalities of grammar, AP style, punctuation, spelling, and proper word usage. A lot of this wasn’t very new to me as I had learned most of this already in previous classes I had taken throughout my college experience (Advanced Expository Writing, Journalism, etc), but this was a good refresher course. One really good part was distinguishing the difference between two words that sound identical, but mean different things, because that is something I usually have a hard time with.

What surprised me: Not much of what I saw in this course surprised me, because, again, I had already seen most of it. The AP style is something I have really had to get used to through all my COMM courses I’ve taken so far, and it’s something Dr. Cotton really pushed us to use in his classes I took last year. Something that did take me by surprise was all the words that people usually have trouble spelling, I sometimes don’t, unless I’m typing really quickly. I’ve always been a pretty good speller, and that has helped me a lot through my school experiences.

What do I want to know more about: The AP style is still something that confuses me sometimes and I have to remember to check off everything to make sure I get it right when I do it, so that would definitely help a lot. There are still some grammar technicalities that I need to really get down in my writing before I graduate which I really hope I can accomplish this year, but other than that, I’ve already heard a lot of what was in this course from other very good professors.

This course was very good, and I know not everyone has had the classes and professors I have had and been exposed to it like I have, so I would definitely recommend it for other writers and PR students.

Blog comments.

These are my comments on other student’s/teacher’s blogs that I post throughout the semester.

1. Tip 1: Be careful of Chartwells.
Tip 2: Save class skips till absolutely necessary and do work on time.
Tip 3: Be careful of chapel, and what you hear and take from it.

Posted on Dedicated to First-Year Student Me: Thriving in Your First Year at SEU

2. I think this is a great reflection and viewpoint on other blogs, especially a professional news one. I liked the point you made about doing whatever you want to a blog, because that’s something I think that attracts a lot of new bloggers to blogging. It’s a great way to customize your own and even see what somebody likes just by what their blog looks like and contains. That is one of my favorite parts of blogging, whether for school work or personal.

Posted on Reading Other Blogs

3. Tara, you’re really good at covering soccer games, and probably other sporting events from what I can tell from these. Keep up the awesome work, these are great for people like me who don’t or can’t attend the games.

Posted on Female Soccer!

4. Rachel, I thought this post was really great and well written. You didn’t just give the tips, but elaborated on them even more, which really helped. I really liked your fifth point, because that is something really important that is sometimes looked over and I never would have thought of that. Same thing for number three, as our headline may already be used, and that could cause problems. This was great, and you gave interesting and new points of view on headlines that I really enjoyed.

Posted on How to Write Headings that Work

5. Naida, I loved this post. This is a side to you that I didn’t know, and I find it really interesting and unique. I think you have a really good point about things that seem to have been lost these days that we should get back into. This definitely brings a new perspective to the whole Woodstock era and genre and what happened there, and what we can learn from it, other than that drugs are bad. I would have loved to have lived during that and seen it first hand and truly understand it all.

Posted on The Year was 1969

6. I think this video was very interesting, and Eli has some very good points. I think the Internet is reaching a point where we can actually say with some truth that “Skynet is real”. Not that it is going to take over and become a real thinking machine and kill all mankind like in the Terminator movies, but the Internet is a scary place now. The fact that it can determine what we will like more of when we search for something based upon our browsing history, where we live, what kind of computer we use, etc, is crazy and nerve-wracking. I’m very curious to see where the Internet and this subject will be in the next five and ten years, and even further, and the effect it will have on our children.

Posted on TED Talk by Eli Pariser

7. Ali, this is so great. You’re such a great writer. I always knew you had this kinda stuff in you, but never saw it before I read this. I can tell that you’re going to do amazing things for God, and this is such a great piece of writing and I’m so glad I brought myself to reading it. Keep on writing like this and going after what God has for you, it’s awesome, and so are you.
-Benji

Posted on The Original Fallen

8. Rachel! This is an awesome post, and I love the pictures you included. The Barbie one made me laugh a lot. These are all great tips, and even though I already did my internship last summer, these are still great tips to take with you wherever you go.

Posted on Quick Tips to Rock your Internship

9. I was actually looking at my friend’s TOMS magazine and saw the sunglasses and new merchandise they’re doing, and I thought it was awesome. The sunglasses actually looked pretty sweet! And yes, the prices for the shoes are expensive, but if you think about it, you’re buying two pairs of shoes, and one of them is going to somebody who needs them more than we do. I think TOMS is a great organization, and are doing something with a great cause, and this is a really good post acknowledging that!

Posted on Will You One for One?

10. This was so good, and such a good new perspective on the topic. I’m glad I got to see it from a different view. This is definitely a topic that I think is breezed over a lot and not discussed enough, and it’s great that you guys took a whole week to write about it. I definitely learned a lot, about what it’s like for others, and learned some things about myself that I didn’t know (from my past experiences with the same issues, and present ones that linger).

Posted on Playboy and People’s Magazine

Media Blog Review

For the first topic of the week, I chose to look at the media, celebrity, and entertainment gossip website TMZ. This interested me because I myself am very much interested in the media and entertainment industry, and I like seeing what goes on in it daily. I have never really looked at TMZ because I don’t usually listen to the gossip aspect of it, which is why I usually stick with IMDB. IMDB is much more reliable for factual information involving any news from Hollywood, celebrities, movies, and television. However, TMZ is a good site for up to date (up to the minute even) information on celebrities media gossip. The bloggers on the site speak their minds and give good information, even though it is primarily a site focused on gossip.

I think that students who are interested in the media and Hollywood industry could use this website well and find some good information on them, especially on new shows and movies and celebrity going-ons. However, I also think that TMZ is not a very reliable source of information as it is listed as a gossip site, and if they really want good information, they’d be better off going to IMDB. Personally I check IMDB frequently throughout the day to see what is going on, and it is the best site for finding out information on movies, television shows, actors, and musicians. IMDB brings in articles from all over the web about the industry and what goes on, and is usually the first to get it and link it’s viewers to the actual articles on such news organizations as E! and The Wrap.

Other students can use their own discretion as to what site they go to for their news, but personally I find IMDB to be much easier to browse. They recently went through an upgrade and redid their home page, which made it much neater and easier to look around, and from the brief time I spent on TMZ, it was a hassle getting around, and their home page was very jumbled and had too much content on it for me to handle.