davehayes.org

this weekend was host to a bit of a debate with some friends, and there was some other discussion today that had me thinking about the authority of men to deal death as a punishment. it is not a pleasant subject to discuss or consider, to be sure. it is not nearly so cut-and-dried as many other subjects in the Bible due to a fair amount of dissonance in the scriptures, primarily between old testament law and some of the teachings of Jesus with a few new testament instances sprinkled about.

basically, my views boil down to the fact that i put a lot of stock in tradition and in the wisdom of my elders – second only to the Word itself, actually. in light of these things, i find fault in the views of pacifism held by a growing number of my contemporaries, both in regards to capital punishment and the defense of one’s self and his beloved. the arguments for each side are tired and i will not at this juncture delve deeply into the topic, because i am still working out many of the details for myself. however, for those of you ashamed to live in a country that will take a person’s life for his transgressions, i hope that romans 13:1-4 can ease your mind in the face of such painful considerations.

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

first off, let me say that this is not in reference to open source theology, the open view or any other such ideas about Christianity that are currently coming into discussion in the church. if you’re looking for that kind of stuff, you can head over to brian drinkwine’s xanga, as he’s the expert on those things. this is something entirely different.

i had an interesting discussion last night with some acquaintances about firefox, an open source web browser. as many of you know (either by the links down the side of this page or by talking to me), i’m a big advocate of free open source software (an explanation of which is beyond the scope of this writing, please visit the link there for more info) and as geeky as it may be, it’s something about which i can be rather passionate at times. this stems primarily from my role as a network administrator and a web developer (or webmaster, web designer, whatever you want to say) and the inherent frustrations (i am a frustrated person, aren’t i?) associated with the software tools that i utilize in that role. let me provide a little bit of history…

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the problem of dating in christian circles is an interesting one to be sure. this has become evident to me through a number of personal experiences, and due to the personal nature of those experiences, i struggle with maintaining a polite attitude on the subject. i will openly admit that i find the entire situation to be increasingly frustrating, and i hope that i can somehow shed some light or provide some insight on the subject without offending anyone too badly.

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the past week or so have been kind of rough around these parts. i can’t really find any language to accurately describe it, other than to say that social situations are becoming increasingly more frustrating for me. i’m struggling with finding the root of the issue, as the problems of every day life tend to complicate whatever deeper issues may be going on. couple that with emotionally clouded judgement and very little direction in one’s day to day happenings (as well as an admittedly lacking devotional life) and we have one slightly confused individual.

i don’t know about some of you, but i have a tendency to try to set up little bargains with God. almost delivering an ultimatum, which in retrospect is completely stupid, but seems reasonable at the time (as sin always does). “i’ve been good lately, abstaining from x sin for a couple days now,” i’ll say. “perhaps you could reward me by making the attractive young lady at church a little more interested in me…” then of course this doesn’t happen. i find myself at home feeling bitter, as if God some how let me down or didn’t hold up his end of the bargain (which to type the words out, they sound like lies from the mouth of satan himself; and they are), and in that moment of frustration decide to myself, “well if that’s how i’m going to be rewarded, i might as well just continue on in my sin.”

what a scary thought process. as i sit here now writing about it, it seems completely absurd and appalling, yet in a few days i can almost guarantee to you that i will fall into it in some capacity. and as usual, i’ll later come to my senses and realize how foolish my decisions were and try to let go of that sin again, only to start the cycle over again. the weekly rejection (whether it be actual or simply perceived, which is a whole other issue in itself) of the young lady at church that i might fancy doesn’t help matters in the least. it’s like this huge swirling quagmire of un-biblical ideas and expectations of God, un-biblical ideas about relationships and a misunderstanding ultimately of who i am in Christ and what that means.

i can’t help but feel completely ensnared at this point, and i’m about to go dig into the book of james, some prayer time and counsel with friends in search of some answers. hopefully tomorrow i’ll have some positive commentary to make.