Song Contest

Hi, friends!

I need your help! I entered a song contest and I need you to to help me place high by voting (downloading my song) for me! If you want to help me continue writing music, then please follow these steps:

1. Go to sweetwatersongcontest.com

2. Near the top of the page, select the "Choose a Genre" list and set it to Contemporary Christian. Then set the "By State" list to Michigan. Click search.

3. Scroll down and find my name and click on "view band."

4. Right below the player controls, click on the "Download" button.

5. Enter in your email address and the verification words, and click the "I have read and agree..." checkbox. Then click "Continue to download."

6. It will send you a verification email, so open another browser and go to your email. There should be an email from noreply@sweetwatersongcontest.com in your inbox. If you don't recieve one, click the "Hmm... I didn't recieve..." link on the song contest page. When you get the email, click on the link in the email, then click the "click to download..." link.

7. Enjoy the song! And please pass it on to your friends!

(you can also view my placement on the song contest homepage, in the "leader board" section on the left side)

Charlie Sivils

Letter to Michigan Representatives

Here is my letter to all the congressmen of Michigan concerning the Health Care Bill. May I suggest that you readers write something to your representatives for the sake of our country as well.

Dear Representatives of Michigan,

I thank you for the promise you made when you swore to uphold the constitution. I am writing this letter to you now because I have been learning about the ways that our leaders are not following the constitution and are usurping authority that otherwise belongs to the individual states (or to God, for that matter). If you follow these tendencies, even though you promised to abide by the constitution, I give you my word that, even though I may not have the power to vote for or against you directly, I will do all in my power to see that you are never elected again. It is my opinion that this “Health Care Bill” is in direct conflict with our bill of rights, our constitution, in addition to our rights as Americans to “religious freedom,” and is therefore an illegal piece of legislation. I have specific problems with the sections requiring the purchase of insurance and the federal funding of abortions. I will watch very closely your votes on this bill, and my support for you will grow or fade based on the results. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Charlie Sivils

For Connor

For Connor

For those of you who don’t know him, Connor is a homeschooler who is now in a Private Christian School. I believe that homeschooling is preferable and healthier, but I do not want to restrict God’s work. I know that, though it is harder, many kids can make it through the school system and still become mature Christians. I do, however, want to caution and exhort him through my past experiences with school.

1. The Overall System

The school system was not created by Christians; it was created by Marxists who wanted to destroy the family unit. If they could get the fathers away for long hours at work, the mothers away pursuing their own careers, and the children away at school being “taught,” then they could create a lack of communication, and pull the members of a family apart, thereby destroying the family’s power. Do not be deceived. The devil will work through this period in your life to draw you away from important things like your family, relationships, and spiritual matters. If academic knowledge becomes more important to you than these, then he will have succeeded. Do not let education become your idol.

2. The Never-Ending Work

I’m not as sure about the school you’re in now, but in most situations, every teacher thinks his subject is the most important. They will want your all, and you obviously cannot give everything to all of them. Besides, I am willing to bet that at least half of the stuff you learn will not be used in your future life. It reminds me of a situation in stories about Sherlock Holmes.

When it was discovered that he didn’t know that the Earth was round, Dr. Watson asked him why. He explained by saying, “That fact will not help me. It has nothing to do with my line of work, and I will try my hardest to forget it.”

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t listen in certain subjects. The system requires that you learn the basics in all of them in order to pass. I am saying that you should put your energy into what you will need, and let the other things fall away in time. Remember how easy it is to look up things on the internet.

And with the immense amount of homework to do, you will struggle to find time for your family. Remember that they are more important.

3. The Peer Pressure

I know that you will find better friends than I did in this Christian school, but do not think that you are immune to peer pressure. The saying is true: “Bad company corrupts good character.” I know from experience. You will have to discern for yourself what good friends are, but you must be willing to not participate in bad things. If you find yourself sitting at the wrong lunch table, do not be afraid of speaking up. State your disagreement and ask for change. If you don’t get it, you must walk away. Sit by yourself if you have to. Your witness and your soul are more important than your friends.

4. The Temptation Towards Premature Love

This one is especially hard to fight, at least for me. If I had known things I know now back when I was in school, I could have saved myself a lot of grief. When I was in school, I was infatuated with this one girl, and that infatuation caused me to make compromises. Because of her, I would have changed my stance on who is acceptable to marry, my stance on homeschooling, and my stance on how many children I would have. The want of being near her kept me sitting at the wrong lunch table when I should have left, and would have brought me into similar situations. The fact is, you shouldn’t trust yourself. The Bible talks about not awakening love before its time, and I believe that means not thinking romantically until you are ready to consider marriage. If you’ve not already read them, you should read books like I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Boy Meets Girl (Joshua Harris), and What He Should Be (Voddie Bachaum). They talk about things like how dating is not an efficient method of courtship, what things to look for in a wife, and what you must do before you are ready to pursue marriage.

Again, you must make time for your family. If anyone can address a certain situation you may be in and give you specific advice, it’s your parents.

The Helpless State of Man (part 1)

Part one: the Cosmic

A year or so ago, I watched a movie called “The Privileged Planet.” I highly recommend it. The title states its case completely. There are many variables that define our planet that “just happen” to align. Let me list a few.

Our planet is the correct distance from the sun for life to exist. All life requires water to exist, and if our planet were much closer or farther from the sun, all our water would evaporate or freeze respectively.

Our atmosphere has the right mixture of gases for survival. With less oxygen, we would suffocate. With more, our atmosphere could be ignited by a single spark, and would burn up.

The moon is the right distance and size so that it stabilizes the Earth’s rotation. It also controls the sea tides, which help keep the water clean.

These are only a few elements that are perfectly correct in our planet. One more very interesting one is that we are positioned in our galaxy with the ability to see and explore outer space. If we were closer to the center of our galaxy, or even within one of the spiral bands, we would not be able to see into space at all.

There are other elements that define us that go much deeper than the eye can see, but I’ll get into those on the next post.

Okay...

In case anyone cares, I'm gonna try to start blogging again, but I don't think I'll have much time to comment on others. Please read if you wish.

-Charlie