woot! how about vin baker with the clutch shot!

duncan had a NASTY tomahawk either sunday or monday; i dunno which day...

and go roddick! (to be honest, i will say he looked a lot more dominating during the summer's us open... he was pulling aces outta his ass everywhere... not the game i watched... of course, you could give credit to moya being an improved player, but i don't think so... during the us open his aces were 130 mph, right on the line... and very frequent. this game the serves were a bit more in, and slower)

i was surprised to see 2 elderly woman approach our apt yesterday... i was intrigued when they whipped out a bible and shared 2 bible verses to me. then they gave me a pamphlet... and when i closed the door and read the cover, i was immediately turned off... it said "can you believe in a paradise earth?" it was written by jehovah's witnesses. however, after junking it in the recycle bin, i had afterthoughts, and decided to pick it up and keep it just so that i can read it and see how it deviates from christianity... i haven't read the thing word for word yet, but i will do so soon, because "a pretext without a context becomes a prooftext for a context" or something like that. being closed-minded doesn't help anyone. but this is what i gather so far, from what i've read:

going off of the few articles i've read in it so far, there is a big emphasis upon "paradise earth;" they quoted a buncha biblical verses and used it to back how many ppl believe they will go to heaven, but not many ppl believe they will reside on a paradise earth.
then there's of course, this huge emphasis upon preaching this truth to others.

however, here's the thing:
-the whole emphasis of christianity is Jesus Christ. they didn't say that he didn't save the world, but they just alluded to that in a few places, how he shed his blood for others. we all know that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, and when we take that away from the central focus, that's just as bad as denying him completely... the 1st commandment is to love God, the 2nd one is to serve your neighbor
-another main focal point of Christianity is the aknowledgment of your sins. there was no article i saw in their pamphlet that drew attention to that. in a sense, you create a false sense of hope in ordinary ppl, who believe the world will turn out ok in the end, but you don't help them in preparing for it. it's almost as bad as the common notion in modern-day society that "ppl will go to heaven simply cause they've been a relatively good person"
-and on that same point, they drew no emphasis upon what happens in the afterlife; no one is perfect, and whoever doesn't acknowledge their sins and the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord will be thrown into hell. they talked about only a paradise earth and spreading that stuff.
-finally... who cares? there is biblical reference in revelations how some ppl will come to live in the New Jerusalem, but whether you live there or in heaven, does that matter? it's sorta like asking if Jesus could give you a front-row seat in heaven. it's completely unnecessary, not something you need to work for. i would be completely satisfied being the janitor of heaven, than the gatekeeper of hell. (i hope God's not being sarcastic after reading this and assigns me that job in heaven :D)

i'll probably read more of the pamplet sometime later. also, most likely their version of the bible is somewhat different, so i'll have to compare their verses with the NIV that i have. as well as check info on them on the web, but right now i kinda have a lotta stuff to do these weeks...

if i had known ahead of time all this, i mightve started debating to those ppl, cause i had no idea they were jehovah's witnesses until they left and i read the pamplets carefully... i was just happy for them to leave so i could get back to watching comedy central. maybe this is something i should pray for... the ability to discern stuff faster from God.

i love thanksgiving so much more than christmas... christmas can seem so fruity now... thanksgiving is a lot more sincere IMO... plus, i'll have to see if we wanna do another praise night...