During The school year this page will have upcoming and recent club events and news. But for now, it's going to serve another purpose. Earlier this summer, I wrote an email to a few of my friends and shared with them what God had taught me about Christians being leaders in everything they do, and not conforming to the world's standards. Here is that email in hopes that it might help anyone who might happen to surf to our website this summer.

            Hey guys! I hope you’re all having an awesome summer, mine is going fine, and I have a feeling it will get a lot better after today. I’m writing this email to share an introspective experience I had during the Church Service today, in hopes that my revelations and ultimate decision would prompt you to take appropriate action in you lives as well.

            Today, in church my pastor was preaching on the topic of what God wants from Men. And a common theme in most such sermons is integrity. Integrity is an attribute that every Christian, male and female, should pursue in everything they do. The pastor said that Men are to be leaders, and he outlined the many qualities of a leader. And during that time, I realized that, whether I like it or accept it, as a Christian, I am a leader. I am an ambassador, and people are always scrutinizing everything I do. And I asked myself if there was anything that I did that does not set a good example. And I realized that there was. I have, on occasion, been directly responsible for blurring the line between right and wrong in the minds of some friends, and those that look up to me. And for fear of having to make a change in my own life, to avoid hypocrisy, I blatantly disregarded the truth.

            On occasion, I have been asked whether or not downloading music from the Internet was right. And, time and time again, I made excuses that I didn’t even believe myself. With the popularity of online file sharing, and readily available access to the Internet, it’s no wonder so many children of God would fail to see the sin behind taking some one else’s work, and not compensating them. This, in the plainest sense of the word, is theft. Many would use the “Rob from the rich, and give to the poor” tactic, or even the “try before you buy” lie. The truth is, the price of the computer, and the price of the Internet access, combined with the time it takes to download the music, is more then enough to just go and buy the music from a store, and compensate the artist. I’m also talking about anything that you did not pay for, and do not have permission to have, such as pirated software. Also,” Burning” copies of games that you don’t own.

Granted, The purpose of Christian music is not to make money, but, it is against the law to download copyrighted material, and breaking laws is sinful. As Christians, we are to follow laws, and set an example. There are many people who don’t give their hearts to Christ because they see the hypocrisy of some Christians. We, as leaders of this world, must have integrity and set the good example.

                        Let me clarify the laws so those of you who don’t know, will know. You are not allowed to have copyrighted material that you do not own, or did not purchase, or do not have permission to have free of charge, on your computer or any other storage device longer then 24 hours. This gives you time to “try before you buy”. Also, you ARE allowed to freely trade, share, and otherwise distribute any material that YOU created, or is NOT copyrighted. The word copyright is a two-part word. The owner has the RIGHTs to any COPIES that are made, and must receive compensation for any and all copies. This includes, software, movies, audio, text, and any other so called intellectual property. That is the law, and as Christians, and citizens of this country, we are expected to fully comply.

            By stealing other people’s work, you keep God from blessing you, both with the sin you create in you life, and by taking Satan’s alternative to God’s blessings. Instead of praying for the funds or means to get Godly music, you take it upon yourself to go and steal it for yourself. By doing that, you’re pretty much saying, “I don’t need you God, I’ll take care of this myself.” As harsh as that sounds, that’s what you’re doing. Not just in the case of illegal file sharing, but also in anything that you do where you are not fully relying on God.

            As a note, File sharing itself is not illegal, and there is plenty of good, un-copyrighted material that people have posted to share with others, that glorify God.

            I ask you to search your hearts, and your lives for areas that do not show Christ-like integrity, and then, search deeper for things that only you and God know about, that don’t portray Christian integrity, and get rid of it. If you have been deceived and brought down by the worlds standards as I have, pray and ask God to forgive you, and to open your eyes to other areas that he can fix within your heart.

            I hope that you will carefully consider everything that I have said, and I hope that someone has gotten anything out of this. God Bless, and have an awesome summer.

                                                            Your Bro in Christ,