This might be a little controversial to some people, but at least give it some thought. I recently read an interview between some small magazine and Aaron Weiss ( lead singer of Mewithoutyou) and he brought up a point that i had never thought about before, and to be honest i really don't know what to think about his response, but needless to say....heres the question and Aaron's answer...
In regards to the Bible, how far does your dedication and faith extend to? Are there things in the Bible that you reject or personally don't agree with, or are there things you take literally verses figuratively?
Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to understand the Bible, and um, but I definitely dob't put it on the same pedestal that I used to. You know, where I'd say, "this is the word of God that I'm holding in my hand and this is infallible and perfect, and there's no contradictions and is scientifically accurate," and all the rest. I look at it now as, these are writings from the Jewish prophets about the coming of the messiah. They're poems and songs, and there's little biographical accounts of Jesus Christ and his life, and there's letters of advice and encouragement, and discouragement, the rebuking from Paul to specific churches, and other people like James and Peter are writing, and some visions from John. This is all collected into a book. It doesn't say the same thing all the time. It doesn't all line up. There's certain things...you read where it says, alright, there's Gospel saying that Judas hung himself. There's Gospel saying he threw himself off a cliff. You try and reconcile that like, "oh, he hung himself and then the branch broke and he fell off a cliff." There's so many examples of that where I'd rather...I reached a point where I felt like I was enslaved to defending every word or every story or every concept in there. And I looked around like, "man, nobody takes all this literally." Like, Paul says women should keep silent in church. I don't know a single church where they say women can't ask questions or talk in church. You could say, "oh, that was for that culture or that time," so you get to a different point where you're like, "these are the things that I think are essential." When Jesus said to love your enemies, that's not just for that time, that applies to everybody. And I don't know how I make those decisions. There's just some things that I pray to God to guide me in the right way and to guide me to the truth in the best way. To me, it seems like it would be hurtful or oppressive to tell a women that she couldn't talk in a church meeting. When I see that put into practice, I see women talk in church meetings that I attend, and it's cool. It's smooth. It doesn't seem to cause any trouble. But, when I hold on to anger or bitterness, or I gossip about people, or I indulge in sexual thoughts, or any of these other things that are forbidden by the Bible, I see the trouble that comes from that. So I think the verse that says, "taste and see that the Lord is good," there's like, this experiencial aspect where I don't believe the things that Jesus said because it's written in the Bible, but put them into practice and you see the freedom that comes from not worrying about tomorrow or from forgiving everybody or for caring at people. For praying to God. The things that Jesus said to do bring life. There's certain things where, you look at things from the Old Testament where war was prescribed, like, "go and wipe out this village and kill everybody." And Jesus has since then, taught us a better way.
So what do I think when I look at those old things? I think, "well, maybe that was necessary at that time. I don't know. I wasn't there. But I'm glad Jesus told me this because that feels right." That works when you live that out. That makes the world paradise, whereas if you go and kill people in the village where they live, that doesn't feel like paradise to me. That seems wrong. I don't know, I don't want to pick and choose based on convenience, like, "I don't feel like giving my stuff away so I'm going to ignore where Jesus says to sell your possessions." It's more like, what's the best? What's going to bring about the most goodness and beauty in the world? That's how I think is the way I want to look at it, and not on the one hand, ignoring what's inconvenient or that I can't understand. Or to just accept it all and say, "no, I have to believe this literally, every word of it." Nobody believes that Jesus was a lamb with white and curly wool. But he's called the lamb of God. So you have to say that some of this is symbolic, it's just how much of it is and how much do we need to accept. I don't know. I heard somebody say that we should read the Bible the way we eat fish. Carefully. Pick out the meat and throw the bones and just try to be careful with it.......
Like i said, this is very controversial, and im not saying i agree with he said, but im not exactly disagreeing either.... i want to hear everyones response about what Aaron said....
I have another blog in the works coming soon...
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Quick question
Hey does anyone know how to upload a new template? Im trying to change the one that i have right now, but im not quite sure how to, Help please?
The Christian Music Industry or "CCM"
I have given this issue a lot of thought lately about how christianity has evolved in the past century, mainly the issue on christian music.
Ive seen people throw away some of their "christian" cd's because of a christian artists mainstream success, or because they have "sold out" to the secular community. My take on this is, it is our duty as believers in christ to share God's love and message to the lost, whether through our actions or through sharing. So how is catering to the christian community by making "our" music outreach to nonbelievers? In the past few decades we christians have created our own subculture to seperate ourselves from the "Worldly Society". Im sure you have already caught on to my excessive amount of quotation marks, but its to prove a point. Dont get me wrong im not bashing any christian artist, only giving insight. If you play in a praise and worship band, or are a gospel artist etc..., and play sold out venues to lead other believers in worship, by all means continue, There is not a better feeling than surrenduring to christ through worship, its the next thing to heaven to me . What im trying to say is that, it is wrong to codemn a christian who dosnt necessarily play in a christian band or music in general. Here's a quote from one of the members of the band Mute Math,
"We've always conditioned our show universally, and (we're) just trying to speak to human beings; (we're) not really conditioning it down to Christians, and that's what the Christian music industry does. It's for a certain sect of people. I don't have anything against that--I'm one of them--but I don't want to taper it just for that," said Meany.
Basically what he's saying is that he dosnt feel the need to play for christian audiences all of the time, Mute Math is an example of believers who play music just for the love of music. If you really think about it, when you play in a band purely for the sake of music, you have an ultimate freedom espression, you can play anything you want . This is because whenever you sign a contract with say...... i dont know a prodominately "secular" label, you can pretty much sing about whatever you want without having to feel obligated to sing about God ALL of the time. No one in this world feels like praising God everyday, its just reality, in life there are ups and downs in which we must endure, living a life for christ isnt always easy, so is it wrong to sing about those ups and downs sometimes and sing about joy other times? Take a look at Psalms or Song of Songs. " My father, Why have you forsaken me?", sound familiar?,This dosnt sound like a praise and worship song to me. In Song of Songs, solomon talks pretty vividly about his love for his wife and her physical features, Most christians would blush if they heard a song like this. The Almost and Switchfoot are other examples of this. If i can remember correctly, Switchfoot is signed with Warner Brothers and The Almost is cosigned with Warner Bros. and Tooth and Nail. The Almost has made a quick success simply because of the mainstream exposure, but Aaron Gillespie does not shy away from proclaiming Jesus's name in some of his songs, two in fact. I can say from experience that lost people often respond more to how a christian walks than talks. It is very possible to uphold a witness while in a lost enviroment.
The bible says glorify Christ in everything we do, so can we sing a regular song about life and still be communicating with God?, i say we can. Is it wrong to sing about pain and sorrow sometimes?, i dont think so. Can i play football to the best of my ability and still glorify God?, i say yes. I mean whats next......."christian football"........." Oh yes sir, i run a "christian" automotive business". Maybe we should stop trying to seperate ourselves from these subcultures ( without creating ones of our own of course), and just focus on the big picture, Jesus.
By the way feel free to give your thoughts, im open to criticism. If you recognize a flaw in some of my thoughts by all means say something, im not here to try to justify anything, only share my convictions.
Ive seen people throw away some of their "christian" cd's because of a christian artists mainstream success, or because they have "sold out" to the secular community. My take on this is, it is our duty as believers in christ to share God's love and message to the lost, whether through our actions or through sharing. So how is catering to the christian community by making "our" music outreach to nonbelievers? In the past few decades we christians have created our own subculture to seperate ourselves from the "Worldly Society". Im sure you have already caught on to my excessive amount of quotation marks, but its to prove a point. Dont get me wrong im not bashing any christian artist, only giving insight. If you play in a praise and worship band, or are a gospel artist etc..., and play sold out venues to lead other believers in worship, by all means continue, There is not a better feeling than surrenduring to christ through worship, its the next thing to heaven to me . What im trying to say is that, it is wrong to codemn a christian who dosnt necessarily play in a christian band or music in general. Here's a quote from one of the members of the band Mute Math,
"We've always conditioned our show universally, and (we're) just trying to speak to human beings; (we're) not really conditioning it down to Christians, and that's what the Christian music industry does. It's for a certain sect of people. I don't have anything against that--I'm one of them--but I don't want to taper it just for that," said Meany.
Basically what he's saying is that he dosnt feel the need to play for christian audiences all of the time, Mute Math is an example of believers who play music just for the love of music. If you really think about it, when you play in a band purely for the sake of music, you have an ultimate freedom espression, you can play anything you want . This is because whenever you sign a contract with say...... i dont know a prodominately "secular" label, you can pretty much sing about whatever you want without having to feel obligated to sing about God ALL of the time. No one in this world feels like praising God everyday, its just reality, in life there are ups and downs in which we must endure, living a life for christ isnt always easy, so is it wrong to sing about those ups and downs sometimes and sing about joy other times? Take a look at Psalms or Song of Songs. " My father, Why have you forsaken me?", sound familiar?,This dosnt sound like a praise and worship song to me. In Song of Songs, solomon talks pretty vividly about his love for his wife and her physical features, Most christians would blush if they heard a song like this. The Almost and Switchfoot are other examples of this. If i can remember correctly, Switchfoot is signed with Warner Brothers and The Almost is cosigned with Warner Bros. and Tooth and Nail. The Almost has made a quick success simply because of the mainstream exposure, but Aaron Gillespie does not shy away from proclaiming Jesus's name in some of his songs, two in fact. I can say from experience that lost people often respond more to how a christian walks than talks. It is very possible to uphold a witness while in a lost enviroment.
The bible says glorify Christ in everything we do, so can we sing a regular song about life and still be communicating with God?, i say we can. Is it wrong to sing about pain and sorrow sometimes?, i dont think so. Can i play football to the best of my ability and still glorify God?, i say yes. I mean whats next......."christian football"........." Oh yes sir, i run a "christian" automotive business". Maybe we should stop trying to seperate ourselves from these subcultures ( without creating ones of our own of course), and just focus on the big picture, Jesus.
By the way feel free to give your thoughts, im open to criticism. If you recognize a flaw in some of my thoughts by all means say something, im not here to try to justify anything, only share my convictions.
Black Stereotypes
Even in 2008, there seems to be a strong stereotype that black people are only limited to one lifestyle, only speak in ebonics ( nothin wrong with ebonics, i use it all the time) and are only limted to certain types of music. WRONG, much of this world is ignorant to the fact that not all blacks are the same. Why is it that when black people try to branch out from these stereotypes, they get rediculed for it and are called "white", "oreo", "uncle tom", or any other degrading terms. Not all blacks can run fast and jump high, not all blacks listen to hip hop and r&b, and not all blacks are from the inner city. I blame a big part of this on the media for portraying us for something that not all of us are. I'm black, I listen to hip hop, r&b, and gospel, but i also listen rock, hardcore, indie, and other subgenres as well, does this make me less black? Of course not im still 100% black, but some people are too ignorant to see past the stereotype and what a sad majority follows. What many people fail to realize is that, we (Black people) created rock n roll. Chuck Berry was one of the founding pioneers of rock n roll before the whites took it and ran with it ( not mad at white people, just mad that some whites claimed they created the genre). Elvis did NOT invent rock n roll! There is also the issue that blacks can only dress a certain way to remain "black", this is slowly changing as more people are becoming aware of cultures merging together and sharing fashion, but this process is long over due. I think part of our problems as blacks is that we limit ourselves and validate these labels that are given to us, meaing every time we're in a situation where we have to prove our "racial authenticity" we take the easy way out and perform some niggerish act instead of compromising and showing others our true uniqueness. We are sometimes our own worst enemy, we shoot ourselves in the foot everytime we conform to what the world says we should be. Black people do not live like you see in rap videos, so stop downgrading us when you see reality. We are educated and we can do anything white people can do. I mean Jay-z is the ceo of Rocafella records AND HES BLACK! Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith coached in last years Super Bowl, AND THEY'RE BLACK! Barack Obama is one of the leading candidates for the upcoming Presidential Election and guess what, HE'S BLACK TOO! Imagine that....if it werent for people like this, us black people would never have access to the opportunities we now do. Many people don't know how to respond to an educated black person without it being negative, we have to keep progressing and showing people that just because we're dark skinned dosnt mean that we are limited in anyway. Im proud to be black and i wouldnt have any other way. Its time for all of us to think outside of the box, and tear down the walls people and even we ourselves have put up against our people. LETS BREAK THE STEREOTYPES!!!
Why im single...
I get asked frequently why i don't have a girlfriend, so ill explain this to everyone. Basically i dont believe in commiting to relationships that God did not intend.When i say this i mean, going out with someone just to go out with them, or going out with them for the sake of physical attraction, popularity, or because you are insecure. It is SOO hard to find a girl who has a genuine love for christ and carrys herself well. The girls i find who fit that mold are somehow always taken..... now that can be frustrating lol. Alot of people dont understand why i havnt had a girlfriend in high school or why im still a virgin. Both of these are choices that i made early on, its not because i cant get a girlfriend (lol) i mean i aint the best lookin dude in the world but i still somethin to offer haha. Im not going to lie being single is not always easy, but knowing that God will someday put the right person in my life brings me comfort. I have no idea where that girl is going to come from, who knows she might be right in front of my face...but ill sit here and wait for now, and let God work things out.
Facing Persecution
In fact, everyone who wants to live in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
2 Timothy 3:12
I find myself sometimes shying from this subject because it's too hard to handle, don't we all? This scripture is saying that if indeed we wholeheartedly pursue God, we will indeed be persecuted. That means when your friends are cursing up a storm and you are'nt you'll sometimes be persecuted. That means if all your friends are going to this jumpin party and you arent, you might be persecuted. That means if everything you do seems to contradict what your friends are doing because of your convictions, more than likely you'll be persecuted. I won't lie many times i have failed God and cracked under pressure because of the fear of losing a friends respect or even their friendship, but scripture also says:
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5: 11,12
When we focus on what matters the most, all the things here on earth start to become less meaningful because of our focus on God. It's almost a state of mind you develop when you're constantly in the word of God. Sometimes I have to sit back and really ask myself, " If i am effectively serving Christ, shouldn't I be falling under some of this persecution?", because ill be honest, there are countless times where ive been made fun of or teased about my faith... but never have i suffered outright persecution because of it. It is our jobs ( especially my generation) as followers of christ to in a sense " push ourselves" spiritually, there is always more we can do to glorify our God and bring his message to the lost!
2 Timothy 3:12
I find myself sometimes shying from this subject because it's too hard to handle, don't we all? This scripture is saying that if indeed we wholeheartedly pursue God, we will indeed be persecuted. That means when your friends are cursing up a storm and you are'nt you'll sometimes be persecuted. That means if all your friends are going to this jumpin party and you arent, you might be persecuted. That means if everything you do seems to contradict what your friends are doing because of your convictions, more than likely you'll be persecuted. I won't lie many times i have failed God and cracked under pressure because of the fear of losing a friends respect or even their friendship, but scripture also says:
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5: 11,12
When we focus on what matters the most, all the things here on earth start to become less meaningful because of our focus on God. It's almost a state of mind you develop when you're constantly in the word of God. Sometimes I have to sit back and really ask myself, " If i am effectively serving Christ, shouldn't I be falling under some of this persecution?", because ill be honest, there are countless times where ive been made fun of or teased about my faith... but never have i suffered outright persecution because of it. It is our jobs ( especially my generation) as followers of christ to in a sense " push ourselves" spiritually, there is always more we can do to glorify our God and bring his message to the lost!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Welcome
Yes....Yes.....i know....
Ive joined the world of blogging. Hopefully i can update enough for this page to stay somewhat interesting. In the mean time ill post some of the blogs that ive written in the past from my facebook and myspace ( I hate myspace) page. AY STAY RIGHT MONEY!!!! lol
Ive joined the world of blogging. Hopefully i can update enough for this page to stay somewhat interesting. In the mean time ill post some of the blogs that ive written in the past from my facebook and myspace ( I hate myspace) page. AY STAY RIGHT MONEY!!!! lol
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