Only By the Blood

I ran across this song recently looking for new choir stuff. I have this CD and have always loved the song, but haven't listened to it in a while so it was nice to hear it again.

Lady GaGa

I was reading a blog from Jonathan McKee earlier and his latest post is definitely worth checking out. Personally, I think this guy has a gift for predicting who will be the next big figure to influence our youth. He has had his eye on Lady Gaga for a while and sounds like he has it right. Here are a few snippets from this last blog:

"Many of our Christian kids are confused. One moment they see her stripping down to a g-string and dancing seductively in her music videos, and the next minute, she's thanking God and raising money for homeless, or more recently, the people of Japan."

"But when it comes to 'do-gooders,' it's Gaga who tops the list in many young people's minds. DoSomething.org, a charity organization for teens and social change, took a poll of the top celebs who used their celebrity powers for the most good. They named Gaga the #1 key influencer, beating out Taylor Swift, Ellen, Justin Bieber... even Oprah."

"Two month ago I taught a workshop where I spent some time talking to young leaders about today's youth culture. In my presentation I talked a little about Gaga and what she was teaching young people, specifically the sexualization of our young girls. Afterward my workshop, a student leader, 17-years-old, came up to me and said, 'Gaga's not bad you know. She actually prays and helps homeless people.'

Well there we have it.

This was a kid that was one of the spiritual leaders of her group.

What would your kids say about Gaga? Does helping Japan trump promiscuity and irresponsibility? Maybe it's a conversation worth having."

So, I totally posted like half of his post on here, but there's more good stuff so go check it out. I won't blog an opinion section for this. I think the post speaks for itself.

Fence

We finally got a fence up for the pups. We were originally wanting to go with the underground fence, but the shock collars could only go down to dogs 5lbs and up. Sammie just happens to be 4lbs so we couldn't do that. But, since we've had the fence, we've already had a couple of bigger dogs come up to the fence while they were out. So, now we're glad we put this fence up so they don't get swallowed whole. They've been loving it although haven't been able to get out a lot lately because of the weather. I can't wait for it to warm up a bit.

Cliche

I've been seeing this theme on a few different blogs within the past few months. Basically, so many people are criticizing Christian music on the whole saying that it's the same kind of stuff being said over and over, it's unoriginal, or even the people singing have never really faced what they're singing about. For instance, some sing about praising God while in the midst of the storm, yet have truly never faced a real storm. Now, let me say first that while I don't agree with some, I do agree with some. I think there are many who just write songs about glorifying God to sell when their lives don't reflect it in any way. I think that some write about peace in the midst of the storm, when in reality, they blame God for their storms. But, I do think that the positives in Christian music outweigh the negatives.

If we were to look about 20-30 years ago, when it came to more "contemporary" Christian music, I would have given this complaint more thought. There just wasn't a wide variety of it out there. But, today, if you don't like a certain type/style of Christian music because it's too cliche, listen to a more original artist...Yes, some might be cliche, but certainly not all of it. If the bandwagon likes the cliche, let them. The SAME exact thing goes on in pop music as well as rap as well as country. It's irritating when we'll ascribe all of the originality in the world to Lady GaGa for wearing a meat suit on stage and writing music about how gay people are born the way they are, but smash Christian music when it glorifies God because "it's already been said." Well, if you think that trying to get attention by outlandish actions is originality then good for you, but we've seen it before in different venues by different people with different ridiculous acts. Although I mentioned a specific name, I'm not attacking a specific artist. That's just one example of how we seem to attribute attention and awe to those who act differently. We see it when gangsters rap about how they're the hottest on the block and they'll cap anyone who gets in their way. And, many times it's the beat that will attract a person to listen to it, not the original words or belief in the words. I mean, how many suburban teen boys listening to this are really going to go shoot someone with their AK-47 that they don't have?

My argument is that even cliche can still be edifying and glorifying to God even though we might think it's unoriginal. I understand that so many words are used liberally and I don't deny that many of our Christian artists do get on a bandwagon of how to sing and what to sing about. But, in their defense, and writing stuff occasionally myself, why not write about the same things? Why not talk about praising God all the time? Sure, there are times where praising God is difficult, but we write about that too. Normally, those songs will not get the popularity that a praise song will because, let's face it, who wants to sing about the mully-grubs on Sunday morning when you're coming to get strengthened? So, the radio might be jam-packed with songs that, in a round-about way, say the same things, but I would say, in context, that it's a good thing.

To sum it all up, I have to hit this last issue. I kind of touched on it in the first paragraph. I've heard snippets of (and even at times in my younger days listened to) some of the trash that some young people listen to today. I'm not talking about what you might call decent (in the moral sense) secular music like Justin Beiber or Jonas Brothers. I'm talking about the stuff that's completely littered with violence, sex, drugs, and language. It's the type of music with subjects that I wouldn't want my kids listening to one day. And, while I'm not the type to say that music can turn kids into walking barbarians who kill for fun, I do think that it can have a negative influence. It can have kids thinking certain topics are cool and gives them an outlet to bring it up or live it out. When someone idolizes Katy Perry and she sings about kissing a girl and liking it, that adds fuel to the fire. When artists sing about being pimps and never holding down a relationship with one woman because that's for chumps, it adds fuel to the fire for young guys sleeping around. There are clearly deeper issues within these realms, where once again, music isn't the cause, but it's an enabler. For a person trying to live a healthy Christian life, although some music might be cliche, the benefits can outweigh that. I've had MANY times in my life where I was down about something and a song has lifted my up. Not to the point of getting me all better, but helping my walk. Sure, a secular song may not have put me through the roof with my anger or self-pity, but the Christian music certainly helped. This CAN help our youth. If not for anything else, to give them an alternative to some of the trash out there.

Ouch

I was reading a blog today from Jeremy Myers and thought this was horrible..

...I ran an experiment to see.

Right now, I am growing my hair out. It covers my ears and looks a little shaggy. A while back, when visiting a church, I wore jeans, a grey t-shirt with holes in it, and a baseball hat, just to see how I would be received. I didn’t bring my Bible. Nobody greeted me. Nobody shook my hand. During the sermon, nobody offered me a Bible.

I returned the very next week wearing slacks, a tie, and carrying a big Bible under my arm. I must have been greeted by 20 people in 10 minutes, and nobody said “good to see you again.” They didn’t recognize me as a second-time visitor! I now fit in with the kind of person they wanted in their church, and so I received a warm welcome. I was handed whole reams of literature. Someone personally took me up and introduced me to the pastor. I guess I was now a “keeper.”

I didn’t go back.

Now, I realize that every church has their faults and even once in a blue moon, this CAN happen without true intention of prejudice against people. But, God forgive us and change us when we're not at least giving people a smile and a handshake to say, "how are you?" I mean, it honestly convicts me with a huge heaviness because when we go back to practice for choir, I don't have a lot of time to mingle. And sometimes I really think I could do a little more than I do anyways. But, I feel grateful and secure in knowing that the men and women we do have at our church don't pick and choose whose hands they shake, and who they greet. They are accepting of anyone who walks through the door. My father-in-law, Mark, is always buying Bibles too and our church will pass them out at events. Plus, in the past few weeks I've been able to give away probably 10-15 Bibles to kids coming to our youth group. It's been pretty awesome. We're not a perfect church, but I thank God that we have a group who loves people no matter what they wear to church.

God's Plan

It's crazy how much faith it takes to really be a follower of Jesus sometimes. I was thinking about when Jesus was being arrested. Up until then, the disciples had been following him so closely and desiring to see His power fully manifested. We see this when Jesus would tell them of His coming death and they would have nothing to do with it. Peter was thinking that there was no way he was going to let that happen. They had seen Jesus perform miracle after miracle on top of knowing the prophecies of the Messiah--how He was going to be this great conqueror of the nations. I can only imagine that they were going along with this peace making gig, but soon Jesus was going to really exercise His amazing power and start ruining some people.

But, that's not how Jesus did things. In fact, when it came to Jesus' arrest, Peter was carrying his sword and swiped off the ear of the high priest's slave. It was like Jesus had told them some big stuff was going to happen so Peter picked up his battle equipment and was ready for war. That's not an official scholarly opinion or anything, but judging by his decision here and then denying Christ later that night, it seems as if his attitude changed when he started to think that Jesus wasn't going to be what Peter thought He was going to be. It seems for a brief moment that his faith started to waiver.

I can see the same thing in my life though. There are these times when I feel at the top of the faith ladder and that God is doing exactly what He's supposed to do as far as I'm concerned. And I'm thinking that if any hard times fall that He's there about to show His true power in the way that I think it should come. It's like I'm waiting on Him to show that warrior, Messiah power in my life to not just help my faith, but establish it with the proof in His power. But, time after time, His abundance of power comes in such a different way than I expect. I'm caught off guard and sometimes even wonder if this is really Him, because it's not how I would have did things, and after all, He can read my mind, so why not do it the way I want.

But, God's glory is so much greater. And, eventually, Peter would see this and change his focus again. I guess that's part of the Christian life. Discovering God in so many new ways. Waiting for His presence and getting so much more. Even if pain is there longer than we want, He's still going to be there somehow.

Christianese

LOL My favorite parts:

"Learn popular phrases such as 'uh-huh' and 'mmm..mmm..mmm'"

"Learn why other religions 'refuse to laugh'"

Awful

Article

I read the above article about two men (high school students when the incident occured) who were sentenced to nine years in prison for beating and kicking another man to death. Because the two men were white and the man who was beaten to death was Hispanic, there is a lot of racial tension and controversy. It said that the boys called the man a "spic" before beating him to death followed by an acquittal of all serious state charges (including murder) by an all white jury. Federal hate crime charges were then filed.

Aside from the racial issues, how could anyone acquit these boys of those crimes. What's sad, is that there were actually four boys. They were all drunk and beat this guy. Two of them plead guilty and testified AGAINST the other two boys in this article. They told everyone what happened, how they plotted to cover it up, and even that one of the two boys plotted with local police to cover up the situation.

Going back to race, clearly this was what it was about. The Hispanic guy was here illegally, the boys were drunk, and that doesn't mix well. I would even bargain to say that the boys didn't mean to kill the guy. However, why does anyone think that a person deserves to be beaten because of their nationality or even status as a citizen of this country? Obviously, there will always be racial differences that cause us to argue with one another. People get heated about things and many just feel more comfortable around their own race. I'm not Ghandi preaching that we should hold hands and kiss. But, I would say that there is a general rule of common decency that we need to show to mankind. Needless to say, this is a Biblical principle of loving our neighbor, but in the broad spectrum on humanity this should even be present.

I would also bargain to say that the man wasn't here illegally with malicious intentions, but to provide a better life for himself and his family. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that people take advantage of our system and abuse our country's generosity. But, if I were in a place where my family wasn't being provided for, I would do what I needed to do to make it happen. That's not my excuse for illegal aliens, I'm just stating the facts. Going back to the topic though, again, this guy didn't deserve a firing squad. If you wanted to take out your drunken anger, you should have called immigration services. Killing people is illegal too, you know.

And that brings me to my last point. Ah, yes, the anger of these innocent young men. Seeing how this horrible illegal immigrant was over here stealing jobs from hard working Americans. So, let's get drunk (illegal because you're not 21) and beat the guy and really teach him a lesson (illegal). What? He's dead? Well, let's plot a scheme to cover our tracks or lie to the police (illegal). Now that we're arrested, let's do everything we can to make us look like law abiding citizens and just taken by a righteous surge of anger to get off easy instead of facing the consequences (morally wrong). They attacked this guy for being here illegally, breaking more and worse laws in the process.

Now, I realize that there is clearly more to this story. I realize that even though a man is dead, that these boys are still a parent's kids. I also realize that there may be more of the story that I don't know. But, when you beat a man to death when you're life wasn't in danger, what more of the story is there to tell? Clearly, a lose/lost situation. But, what are we telling people when we acquit murderers? I'll give you the answer. We're telling people that it's okay to let your anger escape your better judgment. It's okay to murder if your judgment is impaired by alcohol (even when underage). It's okay to manipulate our system for our betterment even when having to do so because we murdered someone for supposedly manipulating and abusing our system.

Let Freedom Ring

By far, the best they've ever done this song. David Phelps is from another planet. If I were him, I would put my voice in a museum.

May 21, 2011--Last Day?!?!

Harold Camping Article

What in the world are people thinking believing Harold Camping and his nonsense that the rapture will be on May 21, 2011. I don't get it. The boat for his proving himself sailed long ago when he said it was going to be in 1994. Let me rephrase: he said it might be in 1994...but there was the most humble possibility that his calculations could be wrong and it would be 2011 when it happened. Either way, only true believers (i.e. anyone who believes that the world will end when he does) will be raptured. I wouldn't quite call him a false prophet; after all, he never claimed to receive a vision from God or anything. I would say that he's a false teacher though. Telling people you have a sure thing when you don't isn't the best way to go about teaching the Gospel. This isn't the Da Vinci Code where we have to decipher hidden and complex messages in the Bible to figure out when this thing is going down. It was written for every man! Sure there are complexities here and there, but not to the point we dig for the timing of something that Jesus said no man knows. That's why Paul said not to worry about it. He told us to preach the gospel, not the timing of judgment day. Just that we will be judged one day.