About the Mountains, the Love of God, and the meaning of life

What David Jeremiah said about the mountains “clearing your head,” “something wonderful happens to you when you go to the mountains,” and “God created the mountains and the ocean as therapy for His people” is so true. Just last week I was struggling with some serious considerations in my head, that really aren’t all that uncommon. But last week was more intense than usual, more depressing and despairing. I found myself thinking, “I had such a conviction in the existence of God at one point, where has it gone to? God, if you are really out there, please show me once again the conviction that I had of your existence and your power.” All it took was one trip to the mountains, one day of delectable powder skiing, and seeing a snowflake fall on the screen of my phone, perfectly illuminating the intricacies apparent in each tiny flake which add up to form a mountain of powder skiing goodness. Each individual flake is so intricately woven together and crafted that it seems like an entity of amazing art all on its own, yet the sum total of the snow, trapped amidst the trees of Connie’s Coulee, refresh and revive life, and somehow make the world a better place. All of it, each individual flake and the whole slope of untracked powder, point to the fact that God is out there, God designed it all, God cares for us, God has a grand plan in mind and that He never, ever forgets us. Ultimately, this is why I love the mountains so much, and this is the reason that I love to ski as much as I do. To me, the simple fact that all of these elements (the snow, the mountains, the way the human body is created, the way the laws of gravity and meteorology work, the way the laws of physics in regards to the human body work, the way the laws of physics govern the interaction between the snow and the sticks) culminate in creating such an enjoyable sensation is proof that in the midst of the sickness and pervasion of relationships full of decay, the futility of the life of the atheist, and the general grime in the world, that God is still there, that He still loves us and cares for us and cherishes us as His children. God is truly there, and He is the only thing worth living for. The only thing.

Now, why is God the only thing worth living for? This is a conclusion that I have been taught, that many of us raised in the Church have been taught. But ultimately, it is not a thing one can be taught. No, this must be a conclusion that one comes to one his own. Read these verses:
Mark 8:34-37 "34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Now, we, having been raised in the church, are constantly being told to "take up your cross, and follow Jesus." Now, I submit to you that most people do not know what this truly means. In fact, I would go as far as saying that I myself do not know the true extent of what it means to "lose my life for Jesus and the gospel." I don't know if even I am truly willing to "lose my life," for what does it mean? I submit to you that the vast bulk of people in Christianity do not in the smallest sense "lose their life for Jesus and the gospel." But that is the way we are called to live. Read also these verses:
Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will. "
I would just like to say one thing about that passage. What happened to the animal to be sacrificed back in the Old Testament? The bull's blood was spilled, it was cut into pieces, laid on the altar and burned! Do you see many people living like that? I don't think so. But I do think it is what Christ has called us to.

So, if we call ourselves "Christian," that is what is truly asked of us. That is the Christian life. There is no strain for self gain, self promotion, or even self esteem of any kind. What we have left is God's will in our lives (living sacrifices, self denial), God's view of promotion (the last shall be first and the first shall be last), and God-esteem (1 Cor. 1:28-31, Gal. 6:14, the book of Romans, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.").

Now, if we take Christianity, we must take the whole thing. If you throw out one bit, for instance, the bit that says homosexuality is a "perversion" (Romans 1:27), you are denying the inspiration of scriptures. As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." So if you reject part of it, you are rejecting the fact that is truly from God. If you reject the fact that it is truly from God, you can then reject any portion of scriptures that you don't feel like submitting yourself to, such as what a "living sacrifice" is. If you take Christianity, you have to take all of it, or none of it.

Let us take a moment and consider taking none of it. What is left in life? There is absolutely nothing! You simply came about as a pure accident! What is taking place right now is simply a chemical reaction, simply chemicals that appear on the periodic table (mostly Carbon, I believe) mashing around with a bunch of energy/electricity to create this thing you consider to be life. But really, what is a school bus? A school bus is a bunch of chemicals that appear on the periodic table, mashing around with a bunch of energy to move a load of school kids from one place to another. Really, the atheist and the school bus are on the same level. The school bus actually is probably superior, due to the fact that it has a lot more of the materials that make up everything in it than you do. You, the atheist, are of less worth in the grand scheme of the universe than the school bus parked in the parking lot! Life sucks, and then you die, and are gone forever. In a few short generations no one will even remember that you ever EXISTED. Your existence is gone. And during your brief period of existence as a bunch of chemicals and energy, your existence is fraught with betrayal, disappointments, and pain. Why not just end it now?

In conclusion, we must choose one or the other, either all of Christianity, or none of it. If we choose none of it, we are left with nothing. But if we choose all of it, we are left with everything. And what evidence is there for all of it? Please go back up to paragraph one! (Look around in nature.)

If you would like to discuss any of these points or any points raised by this paragraph, please, leave a comment, email me, whatever. If you have differing opinions, that is totally ok, that's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. If you disagree with me on any point contained here, I would love to discuss it with you. Because if said position that you take does have merit to it and presents itself as the truth, then I must change my position to fit what the truth of the matter is. So please, let's have some discussion.

Skiing

It feels like forever since I've gotten a good ski in. I'm going to go tomorrow... but probably only for the standard 2 hours. Maybe on Sunday I'll be able to log some quality time... yeah dude.

Oh yes, I've gone running a couple of times in the past week... so that's cool. Gotta keep active.

The Sun is Shining

An Update of Sorts

Contrary to popular belief, I have been posting quite a bit of different things on Randomer... I have just been sort of neglecting my email update list. Here is an "Update of sorts." Just 3 selected items from recent days for you to check out. Once you make it over to the main site, be sure to browse around and check out everything else that has been going on (most of it is skiing related). So yeah, I hope everyone has an awesome day!


Some photographs from a bluebird day at Big Mountain. This is what it's all about!



Reddi Whipped Korean:
A short video that my brother and some friends made, which I personally think is hilarious! Be sure to check it out. (The filming/editing is excellent, so it really is pretty good.)




Taking pictures at school.

A new blizzard, but the same application.

We seriously have over six inches in the valley since this morning. I'm just hoping Big Mtn. got a good dose of this snow. Tomorrow could be amazing!

I'm still working on that application. There has been progress, just not as much as I would like.

Application

I'm currently attempting to fill out this application for a camp that I would like to work at this summer... but I'm totally drawing a blank, and there are a whole bunch of long, drawn-out questions that I need to answer. Ugh.

Parade of Chaos

"We march like fools,
in a PARADE OF CHAOS!"

Powder

10-12 inches of fresh snow today! It was amazing, for the 2 hours that I got to ski. Big Mountain is totally going off! Already over 200 inches on the year! And I'm constantly skiing like knee deep powder! It is truly awesome.

Wylie

"I wanna soar like the prophets before,
addicted to the turbulence!"

A bluebird day at Big Mountain

Reddi Wipped Korean

Starring : Justin, Frank, Bryce, and Mingoo.

Filmed, directed, edited, developed and produced by.... A.J.

lolz

Snow on the way...

2 inches so far today, and by tomorrow we could have up to a foot of fresh. Good deal!

No Skiing today...

I didn't get to ski today... I had to work... and the Big had 8 in. overnight. Not cool. But money's good... so all in all, not too horrible. Maybe tomorrow.

Flying isn't the cheapest choice of transportation

Written on January 3rd.

I am currently sitting in the concourse in MSP International airport, and I have a layover of an hour and fifteen minutes. So I figure, hey, I’ll whip out my laptop and just check email and snow reports for an hour, right? Wrong. Apparently internet access at an airport costs money: $5 an hour. I guess a $500 ticket and overpriced food aren’t enough, they have to hit you up for internet access too. Ridiculous. Well this is one 19 year old who isn’t going to get suckered in.

Montana

So I'm back in Montana... skied Friday and Saturday, but decided not to today because it was blizzarding like crazy when I got out of church. Doesn't seem too bad now, but no telling what it's like up at the mountain. I think taking a day off is a good idea.

PS

Minus the 47 old Randomer posts that I managed to back up, I made 262 posts in 2007. That's an average of .718 posts per day. Not too shabby. But if I went through and found out how many pictures I posted during the course of the year, I think I might be close to one a day (If you consider all the times that I posted a whole slew of pictures at once.) So yeah, all in all, not too shabby!

2008

It is now officially 2008! I believe that this year will be by far the most interesting I have ever seen during my short stay upon this earth. It should be good.

It is almost 2008....

Happy New Years Eve and almost day, everybody!

I know you're all wondering when there will be more pictures... once Bubbs gets his stuff into gear and posts some. He took some pretty sweet shots of us shredding the powder at Bruce Mound about a week ago... he just needs to get around to posting them.