Scarlett @ Dr. Seuss day #2
19 Mar
Sidewalk High
After 31 years I had to learn how baby semi’s are made the hard way…. from the streets
23 Sep
An Old Book Misread?
One of the reasons that this blog exists is due to the fact that I love
Set Your Goals - Mutiny 2006
music, all kinds of music for that fact and always have. Those of you that know me know that I spent a handful of years playing in touring bands. As I progress in my life and in my Christian walk my love for music has not decreased at all, actually as I find myself spending more time studying the Bible and other things my love and appreciation for music has grown due to the fact that I am actually spending less time listening to music, so when I do listen it is like cake being passed around at a diet camp..I shove as much in as I can. However as this journey continues I find myself looking at some of the music I listen to and the messages that are being advanced in a more analytical way. I believe that with mainstream, music (art and entertainment in general) there is an increasing assault on the things of God. I feel that there is another side of the story that deserves to be contended for. Another way of looking at it. I know growing up I was shaped by the bands I listened to and the movies I watched. If someone had a record deal or appeared in a movie that was automatic credibility in my book, regardless of the ideas they were putting forth. Now not everyone is like this, however a lot of people are. So with that in mind I wanted to start this blog for a multitude of different reasons, one of those reasons was to have a medium available for me to analyze and critique some of my favorite bands, and while I may admire there talent and style I have disagreements about the message they are putting forth. Some of these bands may actually have friends of mine in them, so it is nothing personal, just a review of their message in light of a Christian worldview.
The first selection comes from one of my favorite bands in a while. As I get older it is becoming harder and harder for me to find bands that really excite me. However the San Francisco based band “Set Your Goals” has been able to catch and hold my attention for a few years now. The album “Mutiny” released in 2006 contains a song entitled “An Old Book Misread” which takes issue with the Bible & Christianity. Written by their vocalist Jordan Brown “An Old Book Misread” wrote this in response to the way he was brought up and the objections he ran into when he started questioning Christianity (according to an interview posted on 02.08.2007 at rockfreaks.net ). After reading his interview I would agree that forcing your beliefs upon anyone is never a good idea, and will almost always leave a bad taste in the mouth of the other person. With that being said I do believe there is a difference between sharing and forcing. While this is an incredibly catchy and high energy song I would like to address the lyrical content.
Verse 1
False hope handed down, spun all around,
with ignorance from past generations.
How many times and with how many rhymes?
How many twisted endings for you, for you to realize?
It’s not for you to say what every heart should pay.
Another body and soul that isn’t your own.
Get off my back, this was never salvation for me.
So, keep it away.
Chorus
I don’t feel a thing, can’t make believe i do.
It’s something I don’t need.
It’s something that you do and I respect you.
Turning that page, turning that page in an old book misread.
Verse 2
Twenty something rows back, now offer up your souls
at the drop of a single white robe.
All things foretold but, do you really know what?
Mans worst creation has got you, you in its hold.
I refuse to stand, I refuse to stand for organized crime.
Organized crime comes in more forms than one,
and your god is no exception.
Chorus
I don’t feel a thing, can’t make believe I do.
It’s something I don’t need.
It’s something that you do, and I respect you.
Turning that page, turning that page in an old book misread.
Verse 3
If I’m not being clear this right here is about
my disgust with the way I was almost brought up.
I’m taking it back, my piece of mind.
We’ll leave it at that.
In ’83 a lamb was led for many years until it’s head began to swell.
It did explode with reasons to think on it’s, to think on it’s own.
Chorus
I don’t feel a thing, can’t make believe I do.
It’s something I don’t need.
It’s something that you do, I respect you.
Turning that page on an old book misread.
I don’t feel a thing, can’t make believe I do.
It’s something I don’t need.
It’s something that you do, and I respect you.
Turning that page, turning that page in an old book misread.
An old book misread
The first verse already deals you a hand that this is a false hope that has been handed down with ignorance from past generations. However I believe just the opposite that Christianity was handed down by great minds starting with Paul who was a first rate Jewish scholar of his day and had extremely educated and thoughtful contributors through the ages like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin..etc. etc. I think the statement that this was passed down through ignorance can only be made by some one who has not dug into the history of the Christian faith. I would also agree with the lyrics here that it is not for us as individuals to say what every person should pay or do, however as Christians we should not be depositing what WE think others should do, rather we should be pointing to what Jesus’ instructions are.
In the chorus there is a valid message here that I think echos what the Christian view is and that is if you don’t agree with what someone believes you still respect that person. That carries out the idea that the person and thier ideas are somewhat separate. I can disagree with a persons beliefs or ideas but still respect that person. To that I agree, however in the last line in the chorus he states that this is an “old book misread”. If he knows it is read incorrectly, then he is stating that there is a ‘correct’ way to read this book. I would be interested to know his idea of the correct way of reading this book and how he arrived at this conclusion.
In the second verse Jordan seems to questioning if all of the prophetic claims of Christianity were really foretold. In response to that I believe there is a long list of prophesy if one were inclined to spend some time looking into it. One recommendation would be to check out my blog post about the Destruction of Tyre, or the prophetic claim by Jesus that after him false Christs will come (Matt 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear..) One doesn’t have to survey the land for too long before seeing that the Jesus Christ promoted by Evangelical Christians, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Scientology, Islam..etc..etc.. are not the same Jesus, and you do not have to be and expert in comparative religions to understand that these all cannot be true at the same time. That is a prophetic fulfillment in our time right there. These are just a couple, there is so much more evidence of prophetic fulfillment available if you are hungry enough to research it for yourself. Later in this verse man’s worst creation which I am assuming is religion is brought up. I will agree that religion in some sense of the word is not a good thing, in fact Jesus spent a majority of his time preaching against “religion” if by religion you mean following what men say. Jesus railed against the Pharisee and the Sadducee who where the “religious” men of that time that had strayed from preaching God and preached the traditions of men. However that is where Biblical Christianity and religion part ways. Biblical Christianity is so much more than following men, it is true 100% real relationship with God, free communication with Him, response to prayers, evidence of His existence in our lives. While it is true that some religions use God as a wayof controlling people and money similar to organized crime that is not to say that Jesus is not who he says he is.
In the third verse we are let in on a bit of Jordan’s past and it is unfortunate he was not allowed to think on his own as Christianity is a faith that requires reason. In the Bible (Acts 17:11) when the Bereans encountered Paul’s message regarding who Jesus was and his death and resurrection they did not believe it on blind faith, instead they went back to the scriptures (the Old Testament in that time) and researched the prophetic messages about Jesus and came to believe in him by their own research and evidence that they had found. The really interesting thing about this is that the Bible states that the Bereans were more “noble minded” for doing their research and then believing. There are many other verses along with this one in the Bible that call for us to do the research, think for ourselves, and seek after God, instead of blindly following what we are told.
Through this it is my goal that you are not turned off by a bad church experience you once had, or because of a rude overbearing belief forcing Christian that you disregard who Jesus is. I would hope that you would not throw out the baby with the bathwater or so to say. Instead I ask that you would do your research about Jesus and ask Him if He is really who he says he is. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
While this was written to the Israelites during their eviction from Israel, I believe it is true to this day. God tells us that, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer. 29:13 Continue reading
18 Aug
Commandments of God and Society
“When God gives us a command of something to do, or something n
ot to do, there is a basic good reason for it. It is a reasonable command.
And so when he gives us certain things to do and certian things not to do it is almost always because he is looking out for our best interest. In other words he is telling us don’t do this, but the reason he is telling us not to do this because it ultimately leads to your harm, your corruption, your downfall, the ultimate promotion of bad will in the society, the breakdown of relationships in the family, the breakdown of relationships in society, and these are the reasons why you don’t do these things like why you don’t lie to your neighbor, steal from your neighbor, or commit adultery against them. It is not just that God said it, God said it because it was good.
The opposite of all of those things are the good things he has outlined for us to do like love your neighbor as yourself, give to those in need, to stand up against injustice, to promote justice and the well being and welfare of others.
It is not that there is something great out there and God is trying to keep us from it, it is exactly the opposite. There is something great out there and he is trying to prepare us for it, and care for us, and show us the right things to do in order to make that thing an ultimate success.” – Christopher Neiswonger via apologetics podcast found here
I think about the times in my life when I chose to go my way instead of God’s way. At times when I knew it was against what God had commanded for my life. Looking back I can see that by not heading God’s advice in certian areas like chastity I caused myself heartache by engaging in relationships that lacked commitment. Which ultimately led to emotional break down because those relationships lacked the construction needed to support the seriousness of the act of intimacy. This not only caused heartache for me personally, but inevitably I caused heartache for others, and possibly a domino effect of some sort with less than ideal results in peoples lives.
Look at the effect of this on society, broken families most of the time lead to broken children which then in turn leads to more broken families creating more broken children. Which then causes families to rely on government support for welfare which then ends up causing more economic breakdown as these problems continue to multiply faster than the rate of successfull families. If this is not apparent to you I would suggest that you spend some time on the North side of Milwaukee (not that this is the only place it happens, I just happen to know a bit about it first hand). Spend some time in the homes there, with some of the people, talk to social workers and MPS teachers. You will soon see how missing the values of the virtues of God deteriorate the family which ultimately affects society.
Lets not kid our selves our television shows, magazines and movies continue to sell an image to the young men and women of this world that they most likely can not attain, and if they can only for a short time. What the magazine with the incredibly muscular and cut model on the front doesn’t tell you is that that person on the cover has really only eaten a meager amount of eaten egg whites and salad for the last week and a few days before the photo shoot has consumed even less food and water if not nothing 24-48 hours in preparation for this picture to be taken, and in some cases taken diaretics to shed the last few pounds of water weight. Even for the few that grace the covers of magazines this is not a sustainable condition for them. What then happens to the morale of our youth when they hold this as a standard of which they should look like? Depression, low self esteem…etc..etc.
The point being this an exact example of us rebelling against God’s standards. This not the ideal of how God designed us to be, when we try to take the wheel and drive what the body image of people should be we inevitably cause more harm than good. I am by no means downplaying physical fitness, in fact God has given us great bodies and we should be good stewarts of that body. In fact I believe the Apostle Paul makes a great statement at 1 Timothy 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” What God has created should be used for purposes in line with God’s will, this includes how we use our bodies for sex, physical fitness etc. etc. It is then that we will be happiest and begin to be prepared for God’s ultimate purpose.
“Can you believe this world’s just a television blaring, a million devils at once?” – Mutemath
