An easter poem, not by me

So, this is a little trite, a little cliche, but still cool. read my thought at the bottom.

Letters Of The Alphabet:
ALL are loved by God
BECAUSE He died on the cross, we have the chance to go to Heaven
CHRISTIANS can go to Heaven
DYING earthly doesn't mean you have to die spiritually
EVERYONE should believe in God
God FORGIVES our sins
GOD created the world
HEAVEN awaits if you are a Christian
I am a Chrisitan
JESUS was perfect
Jesus was KILLED on the cross
God is LOVING
MAKE Jesus what you believe in
NEVER underestimate God's power
ONLY believing in Jesus gets you to Heaven
Jesus is your PATH to Heaven
QUITTING half way there would make no sense
Jesus ROSE from the grave
Jesus is our SAVIOR
The Bible TELLS us of His love
JESUS was God's Son
Learn Bible VERSES
John 11:35, 'Jesus WEPT.' -Jesus experienced human emotions
Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven. Jesus is the map and the X on the map is Heaven
YOU need to be a Christian to go to Heaven
The last letter: hard to find. Yet, God made it so we could sleep in peace: ZZZ


****back to Me****
So, in a sense (and this might be reaching too far, but bear with me) this is an interpretation of the gospel. It contains someone's summation of the key points of the gospel, the 'alphabet' points, the basics.

There's a song we sing called the gospel song:
"Holy God in love became
Perfect man to bear my blame
On the cross he took my sin
By his death I live again"

That is also an interpretation of the gospel.
But, when you here the words "the gospel" what do you think?
I've heard that phrase all my life, but I don't really know what I think when I hear them.
So I'm curious. What do you see, or hear, or feel, or think, when you say "the gospel"?

There are no right answers, there are no wrong answers, there's just your opinion.
But I do want your thoughts. Please respond.

Heroes?

I'm listening to Chris Rice's song, "Need a Hero".
This weekend, I talked to 2 girlfriends about making a list of my favorite people.
These two influences, conbined with some other stuff, has cause me to wonder:
What is a hero?
as defined by princeton.edu-
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength;
champion: someone who fights for a cause
(classical mythology) a being of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits; often the offspring of a mortal and a god
So, I guess I was thinking more of role models...
someone worthy of imitation;
Who are your heroes(role models) and why?
Do your heroes (role models)change?
Are your favorite people your heroes (role models)?
Why/Why not?

Tell me your thoughts!
I was talking to some of my personal role models this weekend, and thinking about my heroes over the past couple of years. my mom is one of my heroes. The people I love and respect are my role models. how about you?

How are you today?

This morning I was talking to a friend of mine before school. I asked how she was, and she said, 'tired', and proceeded to give me an explanation of why. She then asked me how I was doing. Having just heard her honest answer, I replied with an honest answer.

Simple, right? Not really. Think back on your week, how many times have people asked you, "how are you?" or "how was your day?" or even, "what's up?"

Were you honest? or did you give the non-commital, "I'm good" (which, by the way, is awful grammar), "It was fine", or "nothing much, you?".

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these answers, occasionally there really isn't anything to say. But rather then just responding to them without thinking, try to think about what you are saying. Even if you don't realize it, you are conveying to that person that you don't really want to talk. You may even be hiding from yourself by saying that you're fine when you know that you aren't. When you think before you speak, look at what a difference it makes!

I know I am guilty of not truly answering these questions, and of asking them without truly caring. But I think that this is a societal ill, one that needs to be remedied. People will genuinely care about you, especially if you care about them.

Here's an example:
A few days ago I recieved a really bad grade. (Don't ask what it was, I won't tell) I got this test back early in the day and was dejected for the rest of my classes. Here's the silver lining - people noticed. My teachers cared that I was down, noticed when they took attendance, and asked my what was wrong. A few students asked me as well. Even though I wasn't all that excited about talking about it, I was happy that people cared and so I resonded with honesty. And they listened. They resopnded with thier own truths. I was greatly blessed by it.

Last night at Navs we talked about why people might hide thier true identity. But we didn't talk about how people hide thier true identity. I think this is one of the ways of hiding, and we have let it become a ritual.

Break the mold. Ask how someone is and REALLY WANT TO KNOW. When they ask you, give a short, but HONEST answer.

Then tell me how it turns out. I hope to be sharing more stories with you!