What's my motivation?

I am so unmotivated to work on a presentation that I have to give in less than 12 hours. I don't know why. It's not even that I can't focus on schoolwork; I did a great chunk of Spanish homework earlier today (which I usually forget about/ignore). I guess I got this idea in my head that I'm working and stressing myself out to get a piece of paper. But, as my thankfully wise roommate put it, there are a lot of pieces of paper that are really important. So, I guess I'll use that to motivate me to focus a little on schoolwork (which is good because I'm running out of other things to focus on).

The thing is, I really want to focus, but don't really want to focus. My desires are conflicting, as they often are. Whatever. I'm gonna get this thing done. Goodnight.

The best offense is a good offense

So, I've been thinking, and I've decided. I want to become more offensive.

I don't mean "You suck and here are the reasons why" offensive. That's neither necessary nor uplifting.

I didn't just wake up and say, "Hm, I feel like being an extreme jerk to everyone."

No, what had happened was I got to thinking, "You know, plenty of people speak there mind without care if they offend anyone, and sometimes with the intent of offending. I usually sit back and take it, complaining under my breath. Why should I be so passive? Jesus was very much the opposite of passive."

And so I thought, "Why not? Why not tell people that I think they are dead wrong rather than letting them be wrong? Why keep quiet when others are voicing their opinions loudly and proudly (and sometimes obnoxiously)? Why should I be quiet and let those I disagree with get heard?"

Now, like I said, I don't want to be a jerk. That's not my intention. I just want to tell people, "You know what, you are wrong in saying this," or "That is very un-Christlike of you." I want to answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes (Proverbs 26:5). However, I do recognize that there are times when I should not answer said fool according to said folly, or else I'll become like him (Proverbs 25:4).

The lesser-known verses of I Corinthians say that if I speak in tongues or give everything away to the poor or prophecy, yet lack love, all I'm doing is making noise. That's why I don't want to say anything that isn't necessary. My heart is to throw away my character flaw of passivity. My guidelines are the verses below.

Proverbs 26:4-5
Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.

I Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

I will not be silent anymore

I have a confession to make. I'm a conservative, and am one of about seven black people in the US who voted for McCain. Was I upset when Obama won? Slightly. Was I surprised? Not at all. Am I worried about how he'll lead the country? Far from it.

See, while I am a conservative, I am a Christian before anything and everything else. So while I'll vote and root for the person whose views are closer to mine, I won't forget that God is sovereign and that He puts the people in control that He wants in control. Romans 13:1 tells us that we are all subject to authority, because there is no authority that exists except God and those that have been instituted by Him. So, as much as I want to piss and moan that it was the liberal candidate that won, as much as I want to throw around words whose sole purpose is to make people feel guilty, as much as I want to use "terrorist" or "socialist" or any other "ist" that other conservatives throw around like a rubber ball, I still will look to the Word of God and say, "Not my will but Your will be done."

I usually try not to be divisive or offensive, but I can't be silent anymore.

To you who make jokes about assassination. To you who call our country's president-elect a terrorist, socialist, babykiller. To you who refuse to stand behind a man that you disagree with because of those aforementioned terms.

I want to remind you that God is in control. While you're not coming out and denying it outright, what you have said is evidence enough of what it is you truly believe. And I can tell you right now, God's will is better than yours. It may not seam so, but He knows better than you.