Blog Posts from Will James (Altar'd Thoughts)

Seventh Day Adventism is not simply my denomination of origin – not simply my preferred flavor of Christianity. It is a fully saturating physical force integral to my existence. Adventism is gravitational. It is an underlying essence that seems to tie all other things together. It affects you and the direction of your movements whether you are thinking about it or not. Whether you are committed to it or not.

This Needs to Stop, NOW!

I’m sorry… I’m sorry that I didn’t become what you wanted. What you expected. What you thought was expected.

I was recently attempting this hippy-dippy meditation on my phone that was intended to cultivate a feeling of love and gratitude. Part of this meditation was to contemplate some statements directed, first to yourself, then to any person you care about, then to everyone and everything. Every minute or so, a soft female voice would […]

Where the origin stories of the ancient near east and Mesopotamian world tended to express great conflict amongst the gods and interfamilial wars that resulted in the accidental creation of Earth and mankind, as byproducts of chaos (i.e. the Enuma Elish), the Biblical text, the words themselves, suggest that a collective of God, (“Let us make man in our image”) made a community decision to create purpose out of chaos.

I met a Human last night. Seems like a weird sentence, but I met a Human last night. We often collide with others as we hurtle through life, presenting only our pre-exposed facades and pretenses, but it seems increasingly fleeting to purposely engage further, become three dimensional, especially with a “stranger.” However, in moments when […]

As we have approached the end of Pride Month 2018, it seems just as good a time as any to say that I’m one of those weird LGBTQ affirming Christians. I haven’t always been because I’ve read the same Bible as you who disagree with me. I was more of the “I will love the […]

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist.

(if you’d rather listen than read, find the podcast version of this post at URNotListening2This-Episode 7) I’m going to make this “quick” (well quick for me), so I’m not going to fully flesh out everything I talk about here. So bear with me on that. Also, I know we are all tired of political “debates”, […]

Today, I woke up at 4:50 A.M. My alarm is set for 5, but for some reason, on this Saturday, childless morning, in the mountains of Colorado, I woke up at 4:50 A.M. I walked outside on the balcony and remembered what it was like to see the stars. The beauty here is so rapturing, […]

It seems evident, in my corner of the world at least, that today people are feeling anger and frustration not just with the choices available to them, but also with the choices of those around them. This is counter-productive. This spawns apathy which is the enemy of change, growth, and progress. Today has begun, the […]

This Podcast episode digs into the National Anthem controversy by getting past the protest and getting to the point. I assure you it is all spoken in love, but it is not necessarily the easiest to ingest. No offense was intended if any is felt: Over the last couple weeks, there has been a growing […]

Mac was my brother-in-law’s English Boxer. Coolest dog ever. Mac, was put down today. See, I’m allergic to basically anything that has fur, feathers, or breathes, so I can’t really have pets. This is an extreme bummer because I love dogs more than most other things. I loved Mac more than most dogs. My children […]

On this episode of the Podcast, Deanna and I talk about important aspects of communication between couples. We cover how necessary it is to figure out each others natural language. The bigger reasons for why and how communication can break down. We use our own personal experiences to flesh out what we think are probably common […]

See, while the older brother couldn’t celebrate because of what he THOUGHT about his brother, the servants couldn’t help but celebrate because of what they KNEW about the Father.

I’m going to test out a podcast for a while. I don’t expect many to listen to it, but it’s fun and therapeutic for me. Topics will range all over the place but will basically be intended for young married couples and parents who are just taking it a day at a time. When my […]

11 weeks is not enough. I went to a funeral today… I’m not a fan of funerals… It breaks my heart to see the hurt and pain of loss in anyone’s eyes. I just prefer not to feel those emotions, if I’m being honest, so I avoid funerals if I can. But I went to a […]

What gets these athletes focused and motivated to go out there in front of the lights, fans in attendance and watching all over the world, and perform at the highest level?

Four days ago, I was just a guy. A Husband, a father, and a son. Four days ago, I was Anonymous. I liked Anonymous. Now, I’m “The LAST BLACK SAE…” I HATE THAT NAME. By now you know, a fraternity I was involved with was caught on camera chanting a horrifically insensitive chant. My outrage […]

Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Is the above statement a fact or something I believe? How do you define “the greatest basketball player of all time?” Is it championship rings? Well Jordan has 6, but Bill Russell has 11. League MVP’s? Kareem has 6 of those to MJ’s 5. What […]