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bentrutledge
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Name: Ben
Location: Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Birthday: 3/3/1988
Gender: Male
Interests: A real, relevent, loving God; Music; Drums; Sports; Ancient History; Good Literature; The girl God has for me.
Expertise: Coffee, drums, basketball,
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  emotionneverdies
Member Since:
9/28/2005
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| I am constantly being confronted with people who seem to
be passionate, but in turn are merely excited about something ie.
relationships, church, friends, etc....There are many things in life I
get excited about such as sports or activitites with friends, but there
are also things that I am passionate about. I am very passionate about
worship and church. It does not matter how I feel, or what mood I am in
that does not change the fact that God deserves reckless worship. For
me to say that my mood changes the fact that God deserves it is
arrogant. I am the same way with church, and in relationships (true
friends, semi-romantic, etc..). I get passionate about these things,
which is far deeper than any excitement, because it keeps you there
when the excitement wears off. It is almost a bending of your soul
towards that thing, and you take ownership of it. Passion stems from a
vision, a clear goal and understanding of why you are doing that thing,
and consider it greater than yourself. I can be passionate about a
relationship, becuase I know God has a future wife for me (not an
excuse to date around...you know what i mean). Excitement comes from
good feelings ( like happiness or fun) , or sometimes from some lofty
ideals and ideas you have told yourself about something (church,
relationships, etc..). Excitement is not a bad thing, we should all
get excited, but when you are excited about everything and truly
passionate about very little if nothing but yourself and your own
good-feelings, something is terribly amiss. If you cant get over
yourself and your fears to commit to something great, then you will
never experience passion. The world gets excited about all the wrong
things, and you can tell when someone buys into what the world says
because they are obviously trying to convince themselves that the
world's system works. Hanging out with friends is good, but if you cant
be alone for more than a few hours without calling someone then
something is wrong, thats self-imposed false-excitement. When you have
passion, excitement comes very easily, but when that excitement goes
you still have passion. When you only have excitement, you have nothing
when it goes. If your passion is truly for God, then life will make
sense, and if that passion is first then it will make you passionate
about all the right things: an amazing future, real friends, your
future spouse, the church (Christ's body, all of your fellow Christians
around the world). You can still get excited about the little things,
God delights in your excitement. The other things in life will be in
there right place, and therefore will be so much more enjoyable,
because you are enjoying them how He meant you to. I can speak from
experience, a passionate life is the most satisfying thing you will
ever experience, and the down times arent so down, when your passions
are right. Passion is a bending of your soul toward something, that
starts with a deep commitment towards that something backed by God's
vision and promises. Thats how to live life, and with passion comes
reckless abandonment and absolute trust in His sovereignty. Its a
well-rounded life, with a well-ordered soul, and nothing to fear....You
want excitement, fun, and care-free-ness?!? Then do it God's way with a
foundation of Passion, Joy and Peace!!!! | | |
| Does anybody else feel kind of frustrated when your own
strengths end up being your stumbling blocks....here's a good example
of what i mean: one of my strengths is the fact that I analyze, I stop
and try to get to the roots of things, i hate anything fake (which when
analyzed is what most of teenage life consists of..), i like knowing
what is really beneath, the motivation, or the twisting that has
brought about the motivations for what we do.....i don’t want to call
myself a thinker, because that would be admiring my own intellect
(pride being my motivation, which 9 times out of 10 stems from
insecurity). Now, you might see what i mean. In high school, teenagers
attach to images, whether it be sports, tough guy image, redneck, thug,
A&F, or whatever...girls will then attach to images or to guys with
the images they like (i.e. jocks, thugs, surfers, etc.....) These are
not the problems, but the motivations driving these searches for
acceptance and individuality ( although not too individual as to stand
out and get possibly made fun of....). This is the disease eating my
generation alive, I am no exception....I try not to feel pressure to
impress, yeah, I play 3, sometimes 4 sports a year and have a high GPA,
etc...but those things aren’t me, what I look like isn’t me, what I do
isn’t, what I own or listen to isn’t....forgive me if this sounds
cliché, but God is the only one who can show you how to truly be who
you are, fully relying on Him to accomplish greater things than you
ever could on your own...Christian men don’t have to be
pansies...anyone with half a brain can relate to this if they truly
want to think and not be so afraid of the answers, that they never ask
themselves the question "Who Do I Think I Am?" and take the time to
follow that thought through....this will tell you Why You Do What You
Do........guys, don’t be afraid to admit your weaknesses, it doesn’t
make you insecure, not admitting them does...we all have to let God
make us feel like a man, not stuff or girls.....if someone puts you
down for having weaknesses or thinks those weaknesses are insecurity
instead of helping you through them, they don’t deserve another minute
of time with the real you..........girls, don’t think that opening your
legs (or being physical) will make a guy open his heart, you want the
guys with the images, because you see hints of what a real man is
(strong, tough, sensitive to your needs, but what about honesty with a
moral backbone, etc…), now don’t go putting off all guys that dress
certain ways, that’s not the point (We all have to wear clothes and its
ok to look nice or wear certain brands) ….none of us are there yet.
Just know that a man wont make you feel beautiful, and you cant make a
man feel strong (God has to do those things….).
We think these images,
or skill sets, or whatever other things to be our strengths but they
are really our weaknesses the images we build to hide behind end up
walling us in with the enemy...It’s a long hard process to get to the
bottom of your own motivations….....This being said, I tend to
overanalyze ( not to excuse what’s been said that’s not ‘over’
analyzing) and think everyone is entitled to my opinion. I am currently
trying to find this balance of relaxing and enjoying, but knowing what
I am enjoying also............just some stuff I’ve been chewing on,
don't have very many answers but I see some problems in my life and
I want to fix them (Im in the same boat as the rest of you)......sadly
enough some people are going to read this and brush it off, possibly
the ones who might need to ask these questions most....
-Me
( hope it helps….just needed a good place to vent..)
"An unexamined life is not worth living.."
-Socrates
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| It is my personal opinion that if you ever feel like your life doesnt have meaning watch the documentary "Trekkies" or the ever-more amazing sequal "Trekkies 2"!! These movies contain the highest concentration of people who truly have no lives, thus making yours seem more meaningful. It is all about the most obsessed Star-Trek fans you could imagine....i highly recommend it.... hehe | | |
| Sitting here on a sunday afternoon....alot of time to think. Lately,
ive been thinking about all of the things in my life that need
changing...and its tremendously overwhelming. I think i have figured
out that there are two ways i can look at it...1)i can think about it
all at once and get overwhelmed and it can become a burden...OR 2) i
can see it as a joy and enjoy the process and that their is always
something new in God, because its even scarier to think that i am the
finished product. I have trouble finding what my true motives are....is
that normal? I think i know but then i have to rationalize them....True
change is hard and slow i just keep trying to find reasons to have more
will power, but i know that will never work..........I just want to
stop doing things and start doing others.......you'd think it would
easier........
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| ........ In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts refused to give
$10,000 to some students to study the basic fundimentals of art, and
learn how to portray the human form. The NEA said this was useless and
stifled creativity. That same year they gave $70,000 to a woman for a
gallery that displayed in a jar in a cabinet the bloody fetal remains
of her own abortion........and they say truth is relative and reason is
more important than revealed truth......... she is calloused and they have a political agenda,
its just that their agenda is just a symptom and the NEA is not the
problem, merely a symptom also.....its just everywhere i go i keep
hearing "well whatever is good for you...", all im saying is that kind
of relative thinking leads to this.........but once again this isnt the
problem, the problem is much bigger..... | | |
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