Chicken Soup for the Mortal Soul - Homeschool Blogger

The Seventy-Fourth and Final Chapter of My Blog

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:23:00 -0600

Well, my viewers, it's been a little more than a year that I've had this blog. I've gone through some good times, making friends, getting comments, commenting, and just having fun writing posts.

But sadly, the time has come for me to write the final chapter in my blog. I'm very sorry, and I know that it's a real bummer, but the time has come.

But don't worry. This isn't the end. For those of you on my friend's list who still want to contact me, just send me a private HSB message thingy within two months of this post, and I'll send you my email address, so we can still talk.

Before I go, I just want to thank each and every one of you on my friend's list. You guys have been the best, and I appreciate you more than you know. I have gotten to know you guys so well through blogging, and I appreciate you all for continuing to read my blog and respond.

Thank you also to everyone who commented. Comments=encouragement. I appreciate every single comment ya'll have written to me, and only wish I could've given more before I've had to close this blog.

Thanks also to all of my viewers. I know that due to strict commenting rules, you all weren't able to comment, but I appreciate the time you've put into reading my blog. I appreciate it alot.

Goodbye, my friends. Thanks for reading (past tense, not present) my blog.

~Nicholas Joel

© Copyright 2008 by Nick Joel.

Okay, Back On...

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 15:52:00 -0600

Alright, I just wanted to let ya'll know that I'm back on Homeschoolblogger for now.

Thanks for bearing with my leave of absence, I hope to be able to visit your blogs soon, plus get out a couple of good posts.

~Nick

© Copyright 2008 by Nicholas Joel.

AWOL, Leave of Absence, Whatever You Wish to Call it...

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 20:35:00 -0600

Barack Obama is our 44th President. All the Obama/McCain signs are tossed in the trash, the Republican brochures littering the grounds of the Polls, the Democratic buttons sent to the thrift store.

High tensions are finally eased. Everyone can breathe again.

I congratulate Obama on his win. I congratulate him on being the first African American president elected. And I pray for him, that he will follow God's will.

I don't like that God allowed Obama to win. But I will trust God. He knew Obama was going to win. It was his will. All I can do is obey his will.

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But... on another note, I'm going to be taking a leave of absence from blogging, probably for a month, or so. Thank you ALL for reading my blog.

~Nick

© Copyright 2008 by Nicholas Joel.

Who do I Support?

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:15:00 -0500

Who do I support this election season?

I support freedom. I support free thought. I support hard work, and the rewards and benefits it brings. I support honest gain of money. I support our troops in Iraq. I support babies. I support life.

I support John McCain.

http://www.johnmccain.com
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© Copyright 2008 by Nicholas Joel.

So Let Me Pause, to Clarify... Again....

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:40:00 -0500

Well, once again, I am here, stating a clarification of my last post.

My good friend Legochristian left me a comment on my post entitled 'Who?', stating that the Antichrist can technically be anyone who is opposed to Christ, and thus those like Hitler, Hussein, and other terrible dictators can be classified as Antichrists.

I am very sorry if I confused any of you. I might not have made the main point of my message clear enough. The point I was trying to come across with was this:

We should not spend our time worrying about 'The Antichrist'. Instead, we should trust the Lord our God, and be prepared for when that final trumpet sounds, whether when we die, or when the Lord comes.

Put your focus on God. Trust. Be prepared.

~Nick

© Copyright 2008 by Nicholas Joel.

Who?

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 16:06:00 -0500

As of recently, there have been many questions that I have heard. Whisperings. Wanderings. Ponderings. People asking. Asking the age old question; Who? Who? Who is the Antichrist? Who will be the one to oppose the Lord Jesus? The Antichrist is described in Revalations 13:1-8; "And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority... The whole world was astonished and worshiped the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, who is like the beast? ... The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies ... He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. ... All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-all whose names have not been written in the book of life... Revalations 13:1-8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Antichrist, obviously, is the beast referred to, and the Dragon who gave him authority, Satan (Rev. 12:3, NASV). The Antichrist himself has been portrayed many different ways throughout time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Then come the whisperings. Who? Who? Who is this Antichrist described? Who will be this intense and horrible ruler who will crush Christians under his grasp? Who? Who? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then comes those who say they know who the Antichrist is. That the Antichrist IS alive and WILL take over the earth. But... I believe that the Antichrist is not the main point. I don't believe that when John wrote Revalations, that he was trying to warn us of an oppressive man who would attack Christians. Instead, as quoted in Revalations 22:12, John sums up the whole book of Revalations by saying "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone to what he has done. John did not write Revalations to scare us, to make us paranoid of the Antichrist, of earthquakes, dragons, falling stars, fire, and blood red moons. No. He didn't write it to scare us, but to tell us, 'One day Jesus will return. Be ready. He will reward you according to what you've done.' So many people focus on the Antichrist. But the truth is, he's not the main point. He's not the main purpose! The purpose of Revalations, the end times, John's revalations, are not to tell us who the Antichrist is, and when he's coming. No, they're written as a warning: a warning that Jesus is coming. Be ready for him. For he is coming soon. ~Nick � Copyright 2008 by Nick Joel

Sorry...

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:05:00 -0500

Sorry, but our internet is out right now, so I'm not going to be able to do a good post this week. As of now, I'm at the Library, typing on some really really REALLY loud keys that make a clicking sound whenever I touch them... so...

Sorry for the inconvenince. I'll post a better post next week...

~Nick

And He's Calling out to You, this is a Call, this is a Call...

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 20:11:00 -0500

Oh, by the way...

I've been doing a column for a homeschool blogger site called 'Pocket-Sized Humour', where I weekly post something funny that I find/make.

But... unfortunately, I can't meet the weekly demand, and can only do it bi-weekly.

So... if any of you or someone you know might be interested in writing a humor column every other week, could you drop me a PM.... um, IM..., um... AM? ZM, uh... UM... um...... Homeschoolblogger message thingy, letting me know?

Thanks!

~Nick

© Copyright 2008 by Nick Joel.

Respect Their Opinions/Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them do Unto You

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:15:00 -0500

Well, over the past few weeks, there has been a topic on my mind which I have been wanting to blog about. A topic that is very difficult to find the proper balance on.

I want to take some time to blog about respect of other people’s opinions and views.

When I first started blogging, I was very inexperienced. I had few friends, and my posts weren’t very good.

As I started to mature in my blogging, I got more friends. And with more friends came different views on morality, religion, and even on simple things like books you read or music you listen to.

As my eyes were opened to these different views; I felt the need to share with everyone my opinion on these views, which was fine, to an extent.

But before I knew it, instead of kindly telling people what I believe is right, I started impressing upon people ‘what is right and what is wrong’. I gave no thought to the fact that maybe what I thought was wrong might potentially not be wrong to someone else.

I eventually got into some pretty deep debates with several people, and I always impressed upon them that my views were right, and that theirs were not, and that they were the ones who needed to change. I never even gave a thought to the fact that maybe I was the one who was wrong.

As I got deeper and deeper into arguments and debates, I pushed my views onto other people even more savagely, telling them that they were wrong, and what they did was sin.

But then, when I was getting to the height of my ‘opinion pushing’, something happened.

There is an old saying that my youth pastor in Michigan used a lot. The saying goes: ‘You can dish it out, but you can’t take it when it comes around’. Meaning, you can do stuff to people, yet you can’t stand it when the same thing happens to you.

Well, it did come around to me. After dishing and dishing my opinion out, and shoving it upon people, I had a girl come and start criticizing me for everything I did. I couldn’t do a single thing without her going, ‘You’re sinning.’ She got mean at times; impressing her opinion on me.

I seriously almost got to the point of crying when that happened. I wondered why God would allow that to happen to me; to have somebody always impress what they believed was righteous upon me. The person didn’t even ask if maybe what I did was okay for me, though it might not be for them.

As I pondered, God reminded me of all the people I had shoved my opinion upon. Who I had shamelessly dished my opinion on morality on without even pondering whether or not they might have different views on morality.

After this had happened, I apologized profusely to the people I had attacked. I still have one more to apologize to, but I’m going to next time I see her.

But the point that I want to make through my story is this:

It is so easy to get into the thought pattern that your view on morality, or even silly things like books, music, movies; is the righteous view, and that if someone else has even the slightest different opinion on something, you need to correct them.

Before you correct someone, it is always important to remember that you might possibly be doing something against their view of morality.

In closing, I hope that this will teach some of you younger bloggers a life-lesson that is essential for every blogger; and that this will remind some of the older bloggers a lesson too.

Make sure that before you dish out your opinion on everyone else, that you think over the fact that you wouldn’t like it if someone did that to you. Make sure that you also think that maybe what someone is doing could be morally right for them, even if it isn’t exactly in accordance to what you believe.

Respect is the key. Respect other’s opinion, views, and beliefs. Especially if you want them to respect yours.

~Nick

Walking Home from Piano Lessons, 100 Degree Weather, when I Saw this Vending Machine, and...

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:33:00 -0500

Man, that was so worth $1.25.

~Nick