The Caged Beast

This is a video that I helped put together for a guy on my floor. He made it for a psychology class that he is currently in. If you have ever taken psychology, you should immediately understand what the video is referring to. If you don't know much about psychology, it is still hilarious to watch! The guy's name is Mark and he is literally the funniest guy I have ever met! Enjoy, The Caged Beast...

Moody Missions Conference

Today marks the kickoff of Moody's annual Missions Conference and I am excited! I am excited because of this years theme: The Church in Chains. I am excited because of this years speakers: Mark Talbot, Steve Strauss, Carl Moeller and many other experienced missionaries. Lastly, I am excited because all classes are cancelled for the rest of the week! Each day we get to go to about six sessions where we will learn about dozens of different topics that all relate to missions and in particular, the persecuted church. Wow, what an opportunity to learn! What an opportunity to learn and then put that learning into practice!

I don't want this week to be merely "interesting" or "enlightening" or "thought provoking." Rather, I want this week to be convicting and motivating and truly life changing! By God's grace, it will be.

Since we are on the topic of the persecuted church, I will now post a little report I wrote a couple years ago about Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor in Communist Romania. His story is an amazing story of love, pain, suffering, faithfulness and most of all, grace that enabled a man to be solely devoted to God and His kingdom, allowing him to endure some of the most brutal persecution that can be imagined.

Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand

Richard Wurmbrand began his life as a hard atheist. From his earliest years he was fed the Communist's propaganda and soon he was a true believer in atheism. Richard not only did not believe in God, but he hated the very idea of God. He believed that religion was like a plague to society, never helping but always harming. As he grew older, he began to realize that there was something missing inside him however, and that atheism had not lived up to the promises credited to it by the Communists. Around this time of inner struggle in Richard’s life, an old carpenter in a small village in Romania prayed to God that He would reward him for his life of service and dedication by letting him lead a Jew to Christ. He thought that because Jesus was a Jew, there would be no greater prize and joy than to be able to lead a Jew to saving faith in Christ. Well, it just so happened that Richard was a Jew and it also just so happened that for some reason (he didn’t know why) Richard felt led and urged to go to this carpenter’s village. As soon as the carpenter met him and realized that he was an unsaved Jew, he began to “work” on Richard. Richard said in his book that “he courted me as never a beautiful had been courted.” This dedication finally paid off, and soon Richard had confessed his life of sin and disbelief and placed his faith in Jesus. Soon after his own conversion, Richard’s wife was also saved. Quickly, Richard became the pastor of a church (one that he started himself). He felt a great desire to minister and witness to Russians, who were brought up in Communism, learning from a very young age that there was no God, but just physical matter. He felt a great sympathy and love for these people, because he had been just like them.

In just a few years the Communists gained complete control in Romania. Right away they began their work on the church, slowly making in-roads and alliances with its top leaders. Soon they created an official church and those who refused to be a part of it were persecuted, though the persecution was rather tame to begin with. This is when the underground church started in Romania. It lasted until the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of Communism.

Pastor Wurmbrand had many encounters with Communist soldiers, leaders and officials etc., many of which he found were eagerly seeking the truths of the Gospel. The Communists were hungry for Christ and the peace that comes with Him. Atheism left them starved and alone. Many Communists repented and believed, becoming vital members of the Underground Church in Romania. Russian soldiers smuggled Bibles into Russia and passed them out to other soldiers. Converts secretly printed and distributed the first Christian “tracts”. Pastor Wurmbrand even began a secret ministry to the Russian soldier’s right in their own barracks, under the guise of purchasing stolen watches from them. Russian Christians were persuaded to join the feared Russian secret police (who were responsible for hunting and silencing Christians) so that they could report on their activities. This was often very hard for them because it meant they would be hated and despised by their own families and other Christians, who could not be allowed to know about their true duties. Pastor Wurmbrand himself was captured and imprisoned by the police on many occasions and during one of his longer incarcerations a fellow Christian doctor actually joined the Secret police just to try to find Richard and make sure that he was still alive. The doctor found out that Richard was alive and soon had told the rest of the Underground Church in Romania, which greatly encouraged and invigorated them all. During the Eisenhower-Khrushchev “thaw” Christians spoke out for the release of Richard and finally got their wish in 1956. The Underground Church did many other extraordinary and often heroic things for the cause of Christ. They loved the Communists and would stop at nothing to reach them with the Gospel, even though it was the Communists who were so terribly persecuting them.

Pastor Wurmbrand was imprisoned many times, and each time he underwent various tor tures. Once, soldiers put him inside a wooden box, one that was just large enough for Richard to stand in. Then they pounded nails in the sides so that they were only centimeters away from Richards flesh. He would have to remain perfectly still for hours and hours on end or else he would be cut and shredded by the razor sharp nails all around him. Handcuffs with razors on the insides were put around their wrists on many occasions. Richard was thrown into a freezing cold “refrigerator” chamber and left in there until the brink of death. Then Communist doctors would rush in and rescue him from the cold and make him very warm again. Then right away they would throw him back into the “refrigerators”. They repeated this cycle countless times each day. Wurmbrand said that many times while the Communists were torturing him and others, they would smile and their faces would shine with “rapturous joy”. They would yell at the Christians, “We are the devil!” while they slowly bore holes into the Christians’ flesh or burned them until their skin peeled.

The communists also tried brainwashing on some prisoners. They would make people sit for sometimes 17 hours a day listening to “Communism is good. Give up!” Pastor Wurmbrand and many other Christians were forced to endure countless hours of horrible , all in the name of Communism and atheism, but they held out, keeping their mind focused on Christ and feeling comforted that they were taking part in His suffering.

During Richard’s longest stay in prison, his wife was also imprisoned. There she was brutally ra ped many times and forced to do hard labor. Their son was left to wander the streets. However, when people found out that he was an orphan because his parents were in prison for being Christians, they would turn him away and not give him even the scraps of food off their tables. It was a crime to help the orphans of imprisoned Christians.

After fourteen years, Pastor Wurmbrand was released for prison. He and his wife started their life over in complete poverty. Word had spread throughout the world of the underground church in the USSR and of Wurmbrand’s imprisonment. Two Christian organizations paid the Communists $10,000 to let Richard leave Romania and go to the West. Before he left, he was told to never speak of the terrible persecution and that he had lived through, or else the Communists would hunt him down wherever he was and drag him back to Romania (they actually did this to some other Romanians who had escaped. They found people as far away as Paris and Italy.) In 1965 Pastor Wurmbrand and his family were finally allowed to leave Communist Romania.

In the West Pastor Wurmbrand led the charge in informing and educating people about the Underground Church that exists all over the world, even today. There are thousands of Christian brothers and sisters that are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. Communism was a tool that Satan used in hopes of stopping Christ from saving His people, but just like every other futile attempt, he failed. However, there is still persecution in non-Communist countries and many of us here in the West, know little (and sometimes care little) for their battles and struggles. We must remember the Underground Church in our prayers and speak out against the horrible persecution of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This was Pastor Richard Wurmbrand’s wish for us all….remember the Underground Church.

I have never been persecuted on account of my faith. Here in America, the extent of our “persecution” is being made fun of by some fat, smelly kid at school because we go to church and pray before we eat. I have never seen such faithful, longsuffering, determined and joyful dedication to the cause of Christ. Richard Wurmbrand loved his tor turers. He prayed for them. He never hated them. This is a response that could only have come from the Holy Spirit and the power that raised Christ from the grave. It is truly supernatural and superhuman, a product of the enabling grace of God.

I think that the best thing that we can do for our brothers and sisters in the Underground church is to pray for them. Pray that God gives them strength to endure. Pray that they keep Christ as their focus and remember that Heaven is their reward. Pray that God will deliver them from their suffering, either by death or freedom. I think that we forget about our family…we think that they are just faceless bodies walking around on the other side of the world. But they are people; more than that they are family in Christ, and they are being tor tured. They are being tor tured for Christ.

Crocodile Hunter Dead

Sadly, today the famous Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) died, after being stung by a massive sting ray. The ray's stinger apprently entered into Irwin's chest, peircing his heart and killing him almost instantly. So ends the legacy of the man who loved to yell, "Crikey! She's a beauty!"

Google joins Xerox as a verb

Check out this article about the new word "Google." Awesome!

Backpacking Pictures!

Check out a few pictures from my backpacking adventure to Blanca Peak, Colorado!

2006 Blanca Peak Backpacking

Jul 4, 2006 - 62 Photos

Tiger Attack!

I don't know if this guy survived, but if he did, I'll bet he has nightmares...



P.S. - Matt G. commented that maybe the reason the video ends so abruptly is because the guy filming didn't see the other tiger...

Back to the Daily Grind

Well, I just returned from a week long vacation and I am bummed. I went up to Wisconsin with a friend and spent the week playing on a lake, reading good books, playing poker, and just relaxing all around (except for the small "incident" on Tuesday). It was all great fun, but getting back to the real world really sucks (same old routine, work, getting my wisdom teeth out Wednesday etc).

But, its not all bad. My "departure" date is coming up quickly. I can't wait to get out of Cedar Falls for a while and "see the world" (or atleast a big city) on my own. Its time to meet new people and see new things!

Scientology Orientation Video

Check out this Scientology orientation video that all potential "converts" see at one of the Scientology "churches." With the massive amounts of money that they rake in, you'd think that could come up with something that looked less like full blown propoganda and more like a real documentary.

I especially like the beginning where you see the astroids plummiting towards the earth. My guess is that the astroids are the ones that hit the earth about 75 million years ago (the Xenu Incident), implanting Thetans on our lonely rock, thus leading to the human race (or something like that...).

I actually would love to go through an "auditing" session; it'd be fun to learn about my past lives as an alien. Who knows - if I'm lucky I may find out that I was "deceived into a love affair with a robot decked out as a beautiful red-haired ," or maybe that I was run over by steam roller driven by a Martian bishop. If I'm really lucky (one can only hope!), I might find that I had been transformed into an intergalactic walrus who died when I fell out of a flying saucer! Wow! My current life is boring compared to my past ones!

You can read more about the Xenu Incident here. It's almost as good as Star Wars!

Mother, Child and Womb?

I first saw this story in the Waterloo Courier a couple days ago. I cut it out in hopes of writing something about it, but now I can't find it (big suprise). However, after a simple Google search, I was able to find it again.

Apparently the PCUSA, in an attempt to use "sex-inclusive language," has opened up discussions concerning the renaming of the Trinity. If accepted, the members of the Trinity will no longer be the, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," but will instead be called, "Mother, Child and Womb." Other possible names are, "Lover, Beloved, Love" and "King of Glory, Prince of Peace, Spirit of Love."

Give me a break. This may be one of the most pathetic attempts at political correctness that I have ever seen. According to that Courier article, the "change" was being spearheaded by feminists. Figures.

Normally, I don't like to engage in name calling, but I think Rush Limbaugh is right - these people deserve the title of "feminazis." It's not that I think that all these other names don't apply - they do. Some of them are actual analogies found in the Bible. My only problem with this is that this name change stems from a desire to be politically correct and "sex-inclusive." Give me a break.

Let's stick with the names Jesus used.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
(Mat 28:19-20 ESV)

You can see the complete article here. Be sure to check out the comments below the article - some of them are quite funny!

What's in a Name?

Apparently a lot, according to Nate over at nateNotes.

The title of the article is The Death of "Fundamentalism". (How could he give a post that title?!) Check it out and I'm sure any reasonable person will find themselves nodding in agreement in no time.

Personally, I favor the label of

School's Out for Summer!

Ok, it actually has been out for me for about two weeks now, but it's just now setting in. I keep waking up in the morning stressing about some forgotten paper or neglected lab. But alas, that's all over for a few months.

A few days ago I got a job working at the Pipac Center. I set up tables and chairs and anything else that they want me to set up for weddings, parties, chess tournaments etc. It's been pretty good so far. Although it's pretty mindless work, the people there are pretty cool and my manager is really easy going. It sure beats standing at a cash register for eight hours...

On a different note, I finally finished reading my second biography on Martin Luther, Here I Stand, by Roland H. Bainton. It was far better than the first book I read by Martin Marty (it was about three times longer as well). The book gave much more information on the circumstances and events throughout Germany and Europe during Luther's days, adding a much richer and full context to the story of the rebellious little monk from Wittenberg. One thing that I really liked about Here I Stand, as opposed to Martin Luther, was that Bainton quoted much more of Luther than did Marty. Almost every page had a quote on it, and many were very long. After reading through the book, I am now determined to read more of Luther's work (not just his published works like The Bon dage of the Will etc. but also his sermons and letters). Luther has a way with words that reminds me of C.S. Lewis. Although Luther is much harsher, direct and unrestrained with his words than Lewis ever was, Luther, like Lewis, has a unique ability to choose specific words to get his point across in the most precise and understandable way possible. Many times, after reading Luther, I nod my head in agreement and exclaim, "That's exactly what I was thinking!" (sometimes I do this aloud...luckily I am alone most of the time). However, at other times Luther's thoughts and insights are refreshingly new to me, causing me to look at an idea or passage about God in a totally new way. He is truly refreshing to read. And, as I mentioned in an earlier post, he loved the Word. His love for the Word is amazingly evident in all of his writings. In his preface to the book of Romans, Luther demonstrates his love for Scripture clearly when he says,

It is well worth a Christian's while not only to memorize [Romans] word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes. Therefore I want to carry out my service and, with this preface, provide an introduction to the letter, insofar as God gives me the ability, so that every one can gain the fullest possible understanding of it. Up to now it has been darkened by glosses and by many a useless comment, but it is in itself a bright light, almost bright enough to illumine the entire Scripture.

I am forever thankful to God that He has given me an ever growing love for His Word (it is such an inadequate and pathetic love). Luther is absolutely right when he says, "the more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes." I am rereading so many passages and I am finding that they seem new and fresh every time I read them. The Word is rich and full of God and cannot be exhausted. Luther is right: It is impossible to read or meditate on God's Word too much.

Now I have begun reading Jonathan Edwards' The Religious Affections. I have to say, Edwards is not as enjoyable to read as Luther is. His writing skills are not nearly what Luther's are (and his run-on sentences are killer!). However, Edwards has his moments...and in these moments he shines.

I am bold to assert, that there never was any considerable change wrought in the mind or conversation of any one person, by anything of a religious nature, that ever he read, heard or saw, that had not his affections moved. Never was a natural man engaged earnestly to seek his salvation: never were any such brought to cry after wisdom, and lift up their voice for understanding, and to wrestle with God in prayer for mercy; and never was one humbled, and brought to the foot of God, from anything that ever he heard or imagined of his own unworthiness and undeservings of God’s displeasure; nor was ever one induced to fly for refuge unto Christ, while his heart remained unaffected. Nor was there ever a saint awakened out of a cold, lifeless frame, or recovered from a declining state in religion, and brought back from a lamentable departure from God, without having his heart affected. And in a word, there never was anything considerable brought to pass in the heart or life of any man living, by the things of religion, that had not his heart deeply affected by those things.

Later he says,

If the great things of religion are rightly understood, they will affect the heart. The reason why men are not affected by such infinitely great, important, glorious, and wonderful things, as they often hear and read of, in the Word of God, is undoubtedly because they are blind; if they were not so, it would be impossible, and utterly inconsistent with human nature, that their hearts should be otherwise, than strongly impressed, and greatly moved by such things.

I said Edwards has "moments." However, this is not to say that most of what Edwards has written is bad or worthless. On the contrary, Edwards is very, very good. He can be much more profound than Luther at times. The Religious Affections is an amazing book, packed full of biblical truth. It just takes more work than much of Luther's stuff. His writing is hard to work through at times (most of the time). But this is not a count against him. Edwards is worth the work.

Well, I have spent far too much time writing this post and its time for supper. Later.

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A Person at Conception

Mat 22:37-40 (ESV) And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (38) This is the great and first commandment. (39) And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

With hundreds of thousands of abortions performed in the United States alone every year, there has never been a time when humanity needed the Gospel of Christ more than it does now. Hitler killed nine million people in about twelve years. Stalin killed twenty million people in about twenty-five years. The United States killed thirty-four million, three-hundred and nine thousand, five-hundred and sixty-six babies between 1973 and 2002.

Jer 17:9 (ESV) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Our massacre of babies is a testament to the depravity of man. We are "desperately sick," rivaling the pagans of old who sacrificed their children on altars to their idols. Today we do the same thing. We sacrifice our children to our own idols - convenience, money, relationships and most of all, ourselves.

The only hope for the human race is Jesus Christ. He alone can change the heart, filling us with Himself and covering our sins with his blood.

2Co 5:14-15 (ESV) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; (15) and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Click here to read a paper I wrote about this atrocity that we commit everyday; this sacrafice to the worste idol ever devised by sinful man - Self.

Facelift

Well, as you can cleary see, Whatever Comes 2 Mind has recently gotten a facelift. Sharper Iron got an update, so why not Whatever Comes to Mind? I was thinking about remodeling some stuff anyways - namely adding an additional sidebar on the left. I think that this style will work a lot better for me and my readers (all six of you). I still need to iron out a few little bugs and modify some stuff (like comments) so everything is like it was before, but this is pretty much how it will stay for a while.

I hope you all like W.C.2.M.'s new face. I still have that helpful little link at the bottom of every page in case you get lost and need help finding your way back to the homepage. We're all about convencience here!

Chao!

New Categories

For a while I have been a little annoyed that Blogger does not have the "categories" allowing users to organize their posts into....categories. I was looking at the Blogger discussion group and saw that others were feeling the same way as I was. Then one person suggested an alternative - namely using del.icio.us, a bookmarking site that can be integrated into your blog, effectively allowing you to have "categories."

So, now I can organize all my posts under different topics, making it easier to find posts of interest (not that those really exist anywhere on my blog). Just check out the little drop down menus at the top of the sidebar.

On a side note, Sharper Iron has partially recovered from it's "mental breakdown." Unfortunatly, all the threads and posts since October of 2005 were lost. I am a little sad by this - there was some good stuff in there. However, I have to agree with Dan Miller when I say that it is good that the KJV only and End of the Spear threads are gone forever. Those were mostly a waste of time.

We should all remember to be in prayer for Dan as he tries to recover as much of his Romans 14 information as possible, which he hopefully will publish (summarized of course) on his new blog, Romans 14.

On another side note, I will soon be posting a paper I recently wrote about abortion. It is a persuasive paper for a class I am in, but I found it to be a very interesting and beneficial topic to research. I soon began to see the paper less as a school assignment and more as a personal position statement that I can use in the future.

I will be posting it by the end of this week. I want to beef it up a bit in some parts and then I need to make it into a PDF. Then I will post it for the whole world to see and criticize. That should be fun!

P.S. - When I went in to confrence with my Prof., he clearly displayed some uneasiness with my topic and more specifically with my position. I think that is a good sign.

Google Calendar!

Finally, Google has just come out with their long awaited Calendar! It is truly an awesome little application, effectively meshing an extremely intuituve interface with powerful and professional features. Note: You must have a Gmail account to use Google Calendar. If you don't have Gmail, email me (matttully@gmail.com) and I will be happy to send you an invite. Then go here to log into Calendar!

Adios Outlook!

Colorado Pics

Ok, so I finally uploaded some pictures from my snowboarding trip to Copper Mountain in Colorado. Admittedly, they aren't very exciting. No half-pipes or two story jumps for me. But whatever. I had fun. Of course some people would say that I look like a complete dork in all of those pictures...I know, but you don't have to rub it in.

Check them out here.

Cedar Heights on Sermon Audio!

Finally, my church has started posting sermons on Sermon Audio! Head over there right now and check out my pastor, Kevin Wilkening. We only have a couple sermons up at this point, but soon we hope to get all of Kevin's series on the Gospel of John uploaded. We spent all of 2005 going through John, so there will be a quite a few, but it is worth it! Check it out!

Who Are Your Favorite Theologians?

I know this may be a difficult or even impossible question for some people, but I still decided to make it into a poll. I'm sure we all have one or two (or three!) theologians that we really enjoy reading and seem to "connect" with. I got the list of theologians from Wikipedia.com and I think it is a pretty good list. I know I left people out, but I tried to keep the bigger names (in some cases just the recognizable names). I am definitely no learned scholar and I have not read many of these men (at least not thoroughly). That is one reason that I decided to create a poll about this - to get the opinions of much wiser and learned people than myself. I would ask that you would limit your answer to only three. I realize that it may be hard to choose only three, but that’s the magic number (deal with it!). Of course, you don’t have to pick three. If you have only read (or heard of) two of them, then only choose those two (if you agree with what they said of course!). I also think that it would be really neat if you would briefly explain your selections in a small comment (you don’t have to, but it would be very much appreciated). You can post those comments at the end of this post.

I really am excited to see how this turns out! The more I read of these great men, the more I am awed by how little I know. However, I think that it is important not to stop there. Sometimes I find that it is easier for me to read the words of sinful (albeit smart!) men than to read the Words of God. These great theologians only became great theologians by studying the Word of God. All the great truths that these men help to teach us are in the Word. We must remember to always go back to the Source, for only in it can we place absolute trust. These men may be good appetizers but the real food – the life giving food - is found only in the Bible. The Word of God is to be our bread, our sustenance. May we feast daily from it.

Caution!

Oh, I really do want to write a real post, but alas I cannot. Those Prof's...they know how to get you down. So once again, I had to resort to posting a rather frivolous and pointless picture (it is funny though!).

Oh wait! I can say one meaningful thing! Check out Abort73.com (it is the banner ad right above the actual blog section of the page. It says "Abort73.com" on it...go figure.). I just got a newsletter from them today and was really impressed by it. Just check out their site and you will see what I mean. When you are there, be sure to look at the section that deals with Scripture - it's pretty good.

Ok, for those of you who don't have any clue as to what a "banner ad" is, I will provide you with this link (Abort73.com) to help you to find your way the site. I'm all about convenience.

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