Maintain Consciousness

A few weeks ago The State of New York passed a motion to allow marriage licenses to be awarded to same sex couples who so desire them. Naturally a large a debate ensued among the public. I saw this first hand on my Facebook wall and Twitter feed the moment it passed. Many of my Facebook friends come from my “christian circles” from school and church. And as you’d expect, many of them showed public out-cry for this new legislation that passed. But I also had many friends who expressed great joy and happiness with this decision. The majority of the people I follow on Twitter also expressed great jubilation for the ruling. 

So in this short piece Im going to attempt to outline my thoughts and positions on the issue of Homosexuality. 

First: As a Bible Believing Christian, I do believe the act of homosexuality is a sin. I can’t try to force a work around this belief. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul lists it among 8 other sins. But to be clear the focus of this chapter was about Christians bringing lawsuits against other Christians. But nonetheless this is one of the at least 5 times homosexuality is bought up in discussions of sin. 

As humans we all have a sin nature. In Sunday school and our Bible classes, we are taught to live like Christ to the best of our ability through God’s guidance. In attempting to be Christ-like we generally try to avoid the stereo-typical sins like stealing and lying, i.e. the Ten Commandments. We are also taught to avoid drunkenness, lust, etc. And I believe most Christians will agree that there is no denying the fact that we all sin, and at an unfortunately consistent basis. 

So the question then, is why does it seem like Christians focus on homosexuality so much more than other sins? I don’t claim to be an expert on Christian thought and theology, but I think I have an idea why.

We all realize we sin, but we generally feel we are trying our best to stop our sinful ways. I think the issue Christians have with homosexuality is that it doesn’t seem like homosexuals are attempting to avoid their sin, rather they are embracing it and celebrating it. This puzzles us, so instead of trying to look into the issue and come to a conclusion we feel its easier and more productive to just completely oppose same-sex marriage in law.

I’ll be honest, it puzzles me just as much as the next Christian. I just wish we were able to start a dialogue among Christians and Homosexuals, instead of instantly making them our enemy. Because in the end we are all human’s that have the same sin-nature, and most importantly, the same Creator. 

Now while I view things through my Bible Believing lens, I also strongly support the Constitution of the United States. 

In an ideal God-fearing Theocracy we would all believe the Word of God to be true and would all love each other unconditionally and would live in a world of peace. But there’s a reason something is called ideal. Because its not easily attainable, with our sin-nature, in this world.

So because of this, I believe that the Constitution, created by the Founders, is one of the best forms of Government’s man has been able to come up with. The Constitution gives us the ability to make our own decisions so long as it doesn’t adversely affect anyone else’s equal civil liberties. 

The Founder’s realized that while we are sinners, God didn’t create idiots. We are made in his image after all. We have the ability to reason and make good or bad decisions i.e. free-will. 

The Constitution not only provides protection to people from fellow citizens, but it also provides protection to people from the Government. The Government’s role is to uphold the Liberties provided by the Constitution. There are obviously a few other distinct roles for the Government, but I believe this to be the most important role. 

So lets play the hypothetical game. I’m a member of Congress who has sworn to uphold the Constitution and protect my constituent’s civil liberties, and a bill to legalize Same-Sex Marriage license’s is on the house floor. What do I do?

I hold beliefs that tell me that homosexuality is morally wrong and go against God’s plan for marriage. But Constitutionally speaking, in my opinion there is no legal reason to prevent same-sex marriage. This is where we see human government’s fallibility and that it isn’t perfect, but neither is this world.

So gun to my head, I would most likely pass this bill. It is not Government’s role to determine morality. If God gives us free will and doesn’t force us to all follow his direction, then why would we as Christians feel that our government should have the ability to make us follow a moral belief.  If I were to try to force my moral beliefs on this issue, then I’d also have to form a crusade to criminalize all sexual sins, including pornography. And while you may argue that Pornography should be illegal in the first place, and it would take away a major temptation, it would be violating the First Amendment’s guarentee of free speech. 

As Christians we need to stay strong in our beliefs and morals, I’m not disputing that. But rather than trying to force beliefs on others, we should attempt to show why we hold these beliefs and morals rather than saying we hold these beliefs just because. Actions speak louder than words.

God doesn’t make us behave in a certain way or force us to hold certain beliefs. Instead, in the words of Relient K, “We’ve got a guide, a really thick handbook.” He Gave us the Bible which presents a way to live that he has ordained as the best way to survive this world and serve him. 

I understand that there are sure to be holes in my reasoning. But I am human after all 

My suggestion to Christians would be to follow the Word of God in our lives as it is presented to us. There’s a reason God provided these guidelines, but he never intended us to force his word on others. 

We need to live like Christ to the best of our ability and exhibit the most appealing lifestyle, a lifestyle designed by God. 

On Saturday I was fortunate enough to attend a concert headlined by Aaron Gillespie, formerly of Underoath. I helped run the merch table for my friends in the band’s Reasons Fail and Cry of the Scapegoat, who opened for Aaron.

I got to see Aaron perform with The Almost for the first time in summer 2010 at the iMatter Festival in Elmira, NY. I remember being excited to see him because he is such a big name in many parts of the Music Industry. But that night he did more than perform, he was able to lead a large group of teens and young adults in worship. 

For those who don’t know, iMatter festival is a heavier music festival featuring band’s like August Burns Red, Texas in July, Oh! Sleeper, etc. So a lot of the crowd was more rough around the edges so to speak. A lot of dark black clothing (in mid July), you get the picture. 

So after a fun, hot day of moshing and rocking out to loud loud bands, The Almost steps up and perform some of their hits, you know, the songs you’d expect at a concert. Then Aaron grabs his acoustic guitar and begins to play a few softer songs, finishing with “Amazing because it is,”  his take on Amazing Grace.

For the next 7 minutes or so I was in a state of Worship that I’ve never experienced before. I’ve participated in many events from a regular church service to a large concert where I’ve felt the power of worship, but nothing like that night. 

Aaron was able to capture a large crowd of kids and lead us into worship. The best part was that at least for me, I no longer felt like I was at a concert, instead I was experiencing worship in its basic and powerful form. 

I wasn’t just singing Amazing Grace, I was feeling the power of my God all around me. I literally did not want it to end. 

So when I learned Aaron Gillespie would be headlining a concert in Windsor, NY featuring band’s that I have friends in, I was really excited. 

The Crowd was smaller than we had hoped, but by the time Aaron stepped up to the stage it didn’t matter. This time he just used his Acoustic guitar and had a friend on stage playing a small keyboard. 

I didn’t necessarily have the same extreme experience this time, but this performance didn’t have any less of an impact. 

Those who don’t know Underoath well, should understand that when aaron was still a member, they played for Thousands of people on a nightly basis, and toured the world, so the fact that he played for a crowd of maybe 70-100 people in a park in the little town of Windsor, NY, with the same power and intensity in his worship as he would for a crowd of 1000 people, speaks volumes for his character and humility. 

But there was one part of this concert that stuck with me and led me to write this in the first place. At one point when he was telling his story, there was something he said that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. “You were made to worship God, and if you aren’t, You’re Wasting your life.”

I’ve always been confident in my faith, and truly believe that my God loves me, and sent his son to die for me, but I’ve been wasting my life.

I’ve Experienced the Power of worship in small and safe places, but I need to be more courageous and live in a state of worship One-hundred percent of the time. And now more than ever, I realize that’s a Life worth Living.

I’ll be upfront with you. I love the Buffalo Sabres. Since the lock-out It hasn’t been that bad being a Sabres fan. We have been playoff contenders almost every year, even reaching the Eastern Conference finals twice in 2 years, and winning a Presidents Trophy. But the Sabres have never been “One of those teams.” You know those teams that are always in talks of being a Stanley cup caliber team, and being that team that’s willing to take chances and go for it, most notably in free agency. 

This almost makes Darcy Regier seem like an even smarter GM than he’s usually been credited for. The Fact that he’s been able to assemble playoff contending teams on a consistent basis with mostly home grown guys is astounding to me. 

 

Now he has Terry Pegula (And his wallet). What can be said about Mr. Pegula that hasn’t already been said. He wants to win, that’s it. No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it.

Regier has proven that he knows how to handle prospects and knows how to draft. The one thing he’s lacked is the ability to go after NHL proven guys under the previous ownership group. 

*On a side note, I am eternally grateful to Mr. Golisano for saving my hockey team in the Sabres darkest days as a franchise, so a huge thank you go’s out to him.

So now that Pegula has come in and changed the culture and will do everything he is allowed to do to make Buffalo “Hockey Heaven,” imagine what Darcy might be able to do.

The Sabres first move was to bring in Robyn Regehr (along with Ales Kotalik as a throw-in). They didn’t even have to trade much. This move was wonderful, a nice NHL Defenseman who’s tough and will stand up for his teammates.

Now today they sign Christian Ehroff to a 10 year, $40 million deal. Wait the Sabres made this deal? The Buffalo Sabres?!?! This doesn’t happen in Buffalo. Another NHL proven defensemen who can put up some points. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. 

Best part of all of this “wonderful-ness” is that it is still June 30th. Free Agency Starts tomorrow. 

This Free Agent crop isn’t very deep, but there are still some good players. But the number one guy is Brad Richards. 

I’m not saying the Sabres will be able to get him, but why not? The way Buffalo has been working in the past week why not? They’ve already proven that they are willing to give guys a long term deal at good money, something Buffalo was never willing to do before. 

Richards wants to win a cup. He also wants a big contract. The Sabres can provide both. Buffalo already has one of the elite goaltenders in the league with Ryan Miller. Now they have a strong defensive core with Regehr, Ehroff, and oh yeah, Tyler Myers. The missing piece? A strong center to play with Thomas Vanek up front.

Even if the Sabres don’t land Richards, I’m sure they will be making moves, whether with free agents or making trades. 

The Pegula Age is officially here.

Here We Go.

I feel it’s the perfect time to begin this little online project. The Offseason has officially started in The NHL and it’s a fairly quiet time in music. Obviously this will change before we know it. 

While, as the title suggests, I will primarily discuss My thoughts on Music and the Music Industry, and i’ll discuss different events and going-ons in the hockey world.

I am a currently a student at Broome Community College, where I study liberal Arts, trying to complete as many Gen-Ed Requirements before transferring. At Broome I am a member of the Hornets Hockey Team. We compete in The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

After Broome I hope to transfer to Belmont University in Nashville, TN. I plan to Study Music Business.

Clearly Hockey and Music are the two loves of my life, I only wish i could find a way to combine the two and create a career. But I’ve Decided to Pursue a career in the Music Industry.

I hope you find my thoughts at least a little bit interesting and return in the future.