What's My Last Name?

So the other day I'm trying to figure out what Mary's (Jesus' mother) last name was. In my research I came to find out that in those days, many people did not have last names. In fact, "most" didn't.

Think about it, many names in the Bible (go through the books of the Bible like Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) do not have last names. I know... you're thinking Simon Paul or Mary Magdaline (if that's spelled right) but maybe those were just considered one whole name... like Mia-Grace or Billy-Joe.

Back to my point. Back in those days, people used references to their city name, their job profession or from whom they decended. For example (these names are fictional for sample purpose):

Mark of Winterville

Timothy the Potter

John, Son of Zebedee

So, with that said... maybe thats how we got some of those last names we have today. Last names like:

Potter

Tailor

Cooke

Smith

Miller

Fisher

Goldman

Booker

Baker, etc.... (tons more)

You get my point. Don't know any of this for a fact. Just something to think about. The more over populated the towns/world became, the use of "last names" became a must.

Thoughts?

Be Thankful!

Many people out there (including many Christians) are not as thankful for the life they have as they should be. Someone may have a job only making minimum wage. They pray every day for a better (higher paying) job but still have yet to get it. They mope around all depressed about they're job that they are unsatisfied with when they should be thankful that they even have a job (especially in today's economy).

I want to express a little scenario to help you understand what I mean.

You come to me and bring a bag of McDonalds food (trying to be nice). I give you a disgusted look and fling the food to the ground saying "I'm not going to eat that! Are you kidding me?" Of course you're shocked and ill at this point that I just disrespectfully trashed the food you presented to me and insulted you.

Now, are you now ready to go out and buy me a steak dinner? I seriously doubt. I think I'd be extremely lucky if you'd ever buy me any food again (even McDonalds).

Heres my point. God may bless you with something small to see how appreciative you are. If you aren't thankful for it and complain... do you really think thats going to make him want to give you a bigger blessing? Based on the scenario above, you most likely wouldn't if you were in His shoes.

Overall point?

Be thankful for EVERYTHING EVERY DAY! No matter what is going on, be thankful. Thank God for the gas in your car. When you drink your bottle of water, give a cheers to heaven and say "Thank you Lord for this delicious water." Have a thankful heart (and be sincere) and you will be amazed at how the blessings will flow and how you'll begin to see life in a beautiful way. You'll truly find happiness in your day.

Have you ever said "Thank You" sincerely with a angry look? How about a sad expression? I sure hope you havn't. Most likely you find yourself feeling really good about yourself and letting out a slight (sometimes big) smile everytime you say "Thank You" to someone.

Say it all day to the Lord. You'll be smiling all day!!!

Jesus: Lord or Stranger?

Here's a little something I've always told people about how they should look at their relationship with Jesus.

Lets look at a sample scenario.

Theres a guy named John that works at a computer office 8 hours a day, every single day of the year. He shares a room with a guy named Larry. John and Larry are the only two in this room, all day, every day. For the 10 years that John has worked there, he very rarely speaks to Larry. Every now and then if John has a question about his work, he'll turn around and ask Larry for help, but other than those occasionaly moments, they never speak.

John goes out every weekend and holiday and never invites Larry to come along. John has his own friends and his own social life that does not ever include Larry.

Would you say John and Larry are close? Although they know each other, would you really even say they were friends?

Well instead of "John," put your name there. Instead of "Larry," put Jesus there. As far as the scenario goes, fill in your lifestyle. Do you ever include Jesus in your life. Do you ever even talk to Him? Many Christians claim to be faithful but yet they do not ever even talk with Jesus unless they occasionally need something from Him. So, for someone that you rarely ever talk to or introduce to your friends or bring with you when you go places... would you consider yourself to be close with Jesus? Think about it!

I find the best place to have a conversation with Jesus is in my car. No one around. Just me and an empty passenger seat. I pretend He is sitting right there and I talk. Not just about "needs" but about things I'm thankful for or just to simply talk about my day. If you are a Christian, you should believe that Jesus is with you at all times. With that in mind, act like He is there. Treat Him like a friend (at least). Talk to Him.

Reincarnation

I know this topic is not biblically related, but it is religion based and this situation came up recently for me to want to express my thoughts. Another reason why you should just believe in Christianity.

First off, so I don't put off the wrong idea, I'm blogging on this because I want to pose my questions/comments out there to how reincarnation makes no sense. But lets start off explaining what it is.

This is a religious-belief believed by many cultures, such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. The term "reincarnation" literally means "to be made flesh again." According to doctrine or metaphysical beliefs, it means that some essential part of a living being survives death to be reborn in a new body. This part being the "spirit" or "soul." They call this the "higher" or "true" self, the "divine spark." They believe that a new personality is developed during each life in the physical world, but some part of the self remains constnt throughout the successive lives. This religion believes in "Karma" which is an action, doing or even a thought that you have. Supposedly if you have negative Karma, you will have negative feedback from life and vice versa. But back to reincarnation. Reincarnation in a gerneral sense means that when you die, depending on how good your life was, you come back as another human (if you lived a good life), an ant (obviously lived a bad life) or anything in between based on your Karma.

Here's where I have a problem with reincarnation. First of all, as an insect (an ant or spider)... how would you live a "good life" to work your way up the chain of command? What's considered a good ant? What can you eat? If you eat anything besides a vegetarian diet... wouldn't you be eating past relatives? I can see it now... eating a chicken leg while having the thought in the back of your mind that its your grandmother.

If you kill and eat an animal, would you be downgraded in death for the murder of a life? Is it alright for an animal to kill and eat a human? How about the fact that there are way more animals/insects/humans dying than human babies being born.

And finally, if you really believed in reincarnation, wouldn't you be sad. Being a human is actually a sad life. There's pain physically, pain emotionally, heartbreak, poverty, perversion, addictions... all the sinful ways of a human being... wouldn't it be sad to look at this life as your "heaven?" Some people are so depressed in this life that they purposely take their own... but at the same time its supposed to be our heaven... as good as it gets. So, if someone believed in reincarnation, you would think they would be sad all the time (which in Karma might downgrade them to a lower being for living a sad life).

I know this was off topic today and I appologize but this is why a Christian should feel blessed. We have a God (the one and only God) that gives us a real heaven and something to look forward to in death. Even for those who are debating on religion, why not a religion that at least makes you feel happy in life. A religion that teaches you morals and promises a perfect life in death.

Why not choose... Christianity?