Be ye separate...?

There was the beginning of a discussion in a forum I follow over the weekend. Someone mentioned "Christian heavy metal", and my response was that if "Christian heavy metal" is Christian, then I am a Swedish bikini model.

Now, as a point of order, some may disagree on the definition of "heavy metal". (No, really...). When I type "heavy metal" I mean something like this:

So now we are on the same page.

This came back with the response that attitudes like mine are why Christianity is becoming irrelevant, and that I was being short-sighted by dismissing an entire genre of music that might reach out to the world and bring them to Christ. I may be many things, but I try not to be close-minded - after all, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

I know that the ostensible driving force behind music of this type is to "become all things to all men, that [they] may by all means save some", and that is indeed a noble aim (in fact, the more atute readers will notice that I cribbed that directly from 1 Corinthians 9:22 :-) ). Paul states that he becomes a Jew to the Jew, a lawless person to the lawless, and a weak man to the weak so that he might bring them to a saving knowledge of God.

However, this must be balanced with 2 Corinthians 6:17, "[C]ome out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." Other scriptures that come to mind are Romans 12:2, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." (NIV) and Matthew 6:24, ""No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other..." (NIV). Yes, I realize that last verse is mainly talking about money. :-)

On the other hand, there are people that are involved heavily in the rock culture, that if you asked them to listen to the Gaither Vocal Band would laugh in your face...they're just not into that kind of music. How then can we reach people who are into this music? I suppose that is the thrust of the argument...after all, when was the last time you saw a Goth come to Sunday morning service? :-) And honestly, I think a lot of people would shun someone like that, like Todd Agnew says in the song My Jesus,
"Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud"
But that's a post for a different day... :-)

However my personal feelings on the subject, at the end of the day I believe this is one of the "personal" issues of salvation. While I personally don't believe you can sound like the world and call yourself Christian, in the absence of a clear-cut Biblical mandate on the subject it's not up to me to look into the hearts of others (the performers and the ones that listen to it) and tell them that they are not holy and pure in their intentions towards God. My belief is that if you truly seek God's will on the subject He won't lead you wrong :-)

So, any thoughts on the subject? Let's have it out in the comments...

Happy New Year!

Yeah, I'm a little behind. Story of my life. :-)

Anyway, happy new year to both readers of this blog. 2010 will be quite the year of change on a personal level. I'm starting down the path of Lap-Band weight loss surgery. I decided that fat, drunk and stupid was no way to go through life :) . I've slowly "let myself go" and am now close to 380 pounds. I've long looked at weight loss surgery as an "easy out" that I could never see myself going through.

Then I started working out. And quickly discovered that being this heavy pretty much precludes much movement at all, not without severe pain shortly thereafter. So, I have decided to go down this path, simply because I need to lose a lot of weight simply so I can start exercising and lose even more weight. Now I doubt I will ever see the 190 pounds that I was at age 20 again, but if I can get down to 230 or so I will be ecstatic.

So, watch this space. Lots of interesting things to come, I'm sure.

You can't make this stuff up

So, if anyone has not heard of Despair.com before, you should really go check out the site. You know those "motivational" posters you see everywhere? They make parodies of those, such as my personal favorite below:

Well, recently Despair.com ran a "caption contest" - they provide the picture and allow you to submit and vote on the winning caption. The picture for this caption contest was the one below:


Not two days after the contest begins, the boss walks by the cube and says, "HR says I have to distribute these" and hands me the latest mailing from HR, seen below:

I swear, sometimes it just writes itself.

Jefferson County incompetence

News comes today from AL.com that the Jefferson County Commission is begging to not be placed into recievership. What a bunch of incompetent morons. If I owed a lender and refused to pay my bill for as long as the county has, I would be on the receiving end of a lawsuit, judgment, and garnishment. However, once again it appears that laws do not apply to the Government like it does to us plebes. The arrogance of members of our county commission is galling.

Nice guys finish last

I ran across this anecdotal story on Slashdot today, and it really got me to thinking - that nice guys always finish last. In the case of the story presented, it was a butthead manager that decided it was better to slide the knife in the back of his co-worker, but is it not the case in life, that nice guys finish last? I know the Bible says that "The meek shall inherit the earth" and "the last shall be first" - but it's a constant struggle with the human nature inherent in all of us to maintain the humility and meekness that the Lord requires of His children. The Psalmist sums up the same sentiments in Psalms 73:1-3 - "But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." It takes a great deal of living by faith when you know your job could be taken by the arrogant sociopaths of the world, that care nothing of Biblical principles, or of their fellow man. This is a struggle I have daily, but I know as I get closer to Christ the "new creature" will kill the "old man" and the Christian walk will get easier.

Timothy Egan is so much better than the rest of us

So I ran across this Op-Ed piece today, where some guy named Timothy Egan pretty much rips Joe Wurzelbacher (AKA "Joe the Plumber") a new one. To quote:

Joe, a k a Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was no good as a citizen, having failed to pay his full share of taxes, no good as a plumber, not being fully credentialed, and not even any good as a faux American icon. Who could forget poor John McCain at his most befuddled, calling out for his working-class surrogate on a day when Joe stiffed him.

With a résumé full of failure, he now thinks he can join the profession of Mark Twain, George Orwell and Joan Didion.

To quote The Church Lady, "Well, isn't that special". Editorial pieces such as this only cement the opinion that many in the traditional media looks down their noses at the "flyover country", much as Dickens' Pip looked down upon the very people that helped him in his time of need in Great Expectations. To roundly insult an entire segment of society betrays Mr. Egan's inner rage that someone who is "not a writer" could dare enter the esteemed ranks of "Dostoevsky or Norman Maclean".

But not to worry, Mr. Egan is not simply being insulting for the sake of insult - it's purely political. In the next paragraph, he asks...nay, implores publishers not to publish Sarah Palin's new book, with the fatally flawed logic of "Anyone who abuses the English language on such a regular basis should not be paid to put words in print." Nevermind that most public figures (the same non-writing public figures he runs down time and again) employ ghost writers, for the simple reason that they realize they are not professional writers. And I, for one, am eternally grateful that they do, despite the fact that "real writers"...well, I'll just quote the piece in question:

Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush’s dog getting a book deal.

But don't worry, President Obama will make it all better:

Our next president is a writer, which may do something to elevate standards in the book industry. The last time a true writer occupied the White House was a hundred years ago, with Teddy Roosevelt, who wrote 13 books before his 40th birthday.

What a royal douchebag.

Food Network Challenge has jumped the shark

When I first heard of "The Food Network" I thought it was the craziest idea I had come across. Imagine - an entire network about nothing but *food*. Don't get me wrong, I like to eat as much as the next computer geek, but I thought a Food Network was a little much.

Then I discovered the joy that is Good Eats, Iron Chef America, and Unwrapped. All these shows appeal to the inner geek, which is quite a feat. I even enjoy Food Network Challenge - it's amazing to see the artistry that people can put into cakes, and the dedication people have to their craft and profession, which I admire no matter what the person does ("Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.", Colossians 3:23-24, NIV). However, it seems that lately the execs at Food Network have run out of ideas, as evidenced by the ridiculous challenges we are seeing lately (Big City Cakes and Sugar Towers are two examples).

These challenges are, for all intents and purposes, impossible. You're asked to pull off amazing feats like make skyscrapers out of cake and fondant, or make a 20 foot tall tower out of sugar, or make bridges out of cereal (!), usually with disastrous results. All the while Kerry Vincent is wandering around, telling you how much you suck, how you don't deserve to be there, and how she could do it better. (I'm not fond of Ms. Vincent, can you tell?) Honestly, I don't know of many of the competitors that can stand her, and to be honest her constant nitpicking and griping is getting on my last nerve. My theory is that she has pictures of Food Network Executive Management is a compromising position.

I'm just waiting for the next Food Network Challenge: Eiffel Tower - where you have to make a 1/50th replica of the Eiffel Tower, entirely out of cooked spaghetti. All while Kerry Vincent is critizing you for cooking the pasta al dente.