What Is Evil?

Evil, biblically, means one who does harm to people. An “evil” spirit is not one that is in opposition to God, except to do harm to humans.

Why does evil exist? First, because God placed humans in charge over the earth. God gave a sliver of his sovereignty to humanity, and humanity chose to use that sovereignty for selfish, destructive motives.

However, most evil is simply ignorance– not thinking about what harm we cause others–, judgment–punishing others for harms we think they have done– or systemic– participating in a system which benefits some by harming others. Satan, as an evil force, is the head of a system of judgment.

We do evil to God by separating ourselves from Him by disobeying His will or by doing actions of hatred toward Him. We cannot truly harm God, but we can harm our relationship with Him and we can harm those who are made in His image. If we harm our relationship with God, that leads us to more evil, for all good things come from God.

Living in Oregon

Some one liners by Jeff Foxworthy. If I have a comment, it's in parentheses.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Oregon.

If you've worn shorts, sandals and a parka at the same time, you live in Oregon.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Oregon.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Oregon.

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Oregon.
(Even more so if you need to do this in the same hour...)

If you feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash, you live in Oregon.

If you know more than 10 ways to order coffee, you live in Oregon. (Or Washington)


If you stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal, you live in Oregon.
(If you walk out against the signal and against traffic, you live in Portland)

If you consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain, you live in Oregon.

If you can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Dutch Bros, you live in Oregon.

If you know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon, you live in Oregon.

If you know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Clatskanie, Issaquah, Oregon, Umpqua, Yakima and Willamette, you live in Oregon.
(If you know how to pronounce Glisan with a long "e", Couch with a "oo", then you live in Portland)

If you consider swimming an indoor sport, you live in Oregon.
(Especially Styxx, who's room floods out a lot)

If you know that Boring is a city and not just a feeling, you live in Oregon.
(Jokes about Boring are just that)







If you can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food, you live in Oregon.

If you think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists, you live in Oregon.
(Or they are just foolish. TriMet reports umbrella losses in the thousands annually)

If you actually understand these jokes you live or have lived in Oregon

Some More Funnies About Blogging

So that the pics don't take over my sidebar. (I should really use tinypic)

How You Should Blog (Even If I Don't)

I just read "5 Commandments for Blogging" and I really disagreed with most of it. So I'm giving my own, according to what I like to read. I may not follow all of these rules, but I'd like to. That counts, doesn't it?

1. Don't write for the masses
If you are only writing because you want to see a higher count or because you want to get known, just don't bother. Be yourself and write about what is important to you, even if it's not important to anyone else. Don't change your public persona to be popular. This doesn't mean don't think about your audience. It means keep a balance between who you really are and what people want to hear.

2. Be passionate
Go ahead and post your most extreme ideas. It is passion that really makes an interesting article. This is not the same as emotional or insulting or troll-ish. Passion is what stirs your soul, not what others react in you. Write on what you love, not on what you hate.

3. Quote
Most bloggers don't quote other works or they keep quotations brief. But if you read something amazing, especially if it is little-known or out of print or simply unpublished, please take the time to share it with the rest of us. Just remember to say where you got it from, who wrote the quote and keep the length under copyright limits. Ask permission if possible.

4. Use pics
Text is dull by itself. Use a pic that reflects the mood and subject of the post. It's an eye catcher and makes us more likely to read what you have to say.

5. Not too long
I have a blog that is only a sentence or two each post. And another that is only pics. And I have writings that are more than a thousand words long. Frankly, I know for a fact that no one will read the thousand word posts. They are just too long. This is the internet, not a novel. No one is going to take an hour to read a blog post. It's just a fact of life. However, if you have an idea that takes a long time to explain, you can do it in multiple posts.

6. Not too personal
If we are writing about what happened with our neighbor the other day without any relevance to anyone else, why put it on the internet? A blog, like Facebook, is a public journal, not a private one. I don't want to know about your sex life, the things you hate about your spouse, or the tiny details that make up your life. That doesn't mean I don't want personal info. Tell me what movies you really like or really hate; tell me briefly about your top ten pet peeves-- that's fine, especially if it's funny. But let's not get into exclusively private territory.

7. Be entertaining
We can't be entertaining all the time. Not every post will be earth-shattering. But something in each post should be dramatic or funny or informative or thought-provoking. Not necessarily the whole post, but something. The title is a good place to start.