I was listening to an archived podcast of The God Journey and it summed up exactly how I feel about “church” that I thought I’d share it. Please listen and tell me what you think!
What I like most about these guys is how “un-dogmatic” they are. If you prefer a Sunday morning event and want that to be your main way to connect with other people, then go for it! On the same hand, if you feel disconnected with the Sunday morning event and find fellowship outside of it, then go for it!
I was going through my iTunes library trying to mix the perfect playlist for my upcoming first Half Marathon and ran across this song by Christian rockers, Disciple. It is simply entitled, Easter Bunny. It is from their “My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy” album.
Guess I’m filled with the Christmas spirit
Celebrate a jolly man in red
Hope my kids don’t find out Santa Clause isn’t real
Maybe I should have told them about Jesus instead
Last time I heard about it He didn’t come in a Santa outfit
Santa Clause is dead!
Guess it’s time to thank the easter bunny again
For doing absolutely nothing in my life
What the heck do a bunch of colored eggs
have to do with the Son of God being raised back to life
Last time I heard about it He didn’t rise in an easter outfit
The easter bunny is dead!
Christmas is when I celebrate Jesus’ birth
Easter’s when I celebrate Jesus’ resurrection
Jesus is alive!
I saw this cartoon posted today at this blog and absolutely fell in love with it!! You know that old saying, “if it sounds like a duck, walks like a duck and looks like a duck”? Well this cartoon nails the issue on the head!
I know a lot of Christians and conservatives get all uptight when “Merry Christmas” gets changed to “Happy Holidays”. I never understood why this is so. America is a melting pot, remember! We have lots of different faiths and beliefs here in our country, and some of them celebrate some of their doctrines at the same time around December.
This cartoon definitely calls us Christians out and asks us to wake up!
I know I might get some heat from my Christian friends, but I just gotta say what I think. What if we got rid of all the trash we bought at Christmas and spent that money to help the needy?
Relevant Magazine has a very good article entitled “Merry Consumerism” in their most recent issue regarding this subject. Click on over there and read it, I dare ya! While you’re at it, read this article detailing how we Christians obtained some of our beloved Christmas symbols, such as the Christmas Tree and Mistletoe.
So, let’s not be so uptight. Other people want to celebrate the season that is close to their beliefs. And 90% of people still call it Christmas for goodness sakes!
If you don’t want to read, than I highly recommend viewing the video below:
Every once in a while a song will come along and make you think in ways you hadn’t thought before.
Flyleaf’s new album, Momento Mori, has one such song. Entitled “Beautiful Bride”, the song is an amazing example of creative music and intriguing lyrics.
Beautified diversity
Functioning as one body
Every part encouraged by the other
No one independent of another
You’re irreplaceable, indispensable
You’re incredible
You’re incredible
(Chorus)
Beautiful bride
Body of Christ
One flesh abiding
Strong and unifying
Fighting ends in forgiveness
Unite and fight all division
Beautiful bride
Strengthen your arms now
Train your fingers for battle
Urgency’s here now
Train your fingers for battle
Fighting this violence
With your feet wrapped in peace
Sad tears and silence
Now screams of joy
Victory
(Chorus)
Beautiful bride
Body of Christ
One flesh abiding
Strong and unifying
Fighting ends in forgiveness
Unite and fight all division
Beautiful bride
Beautiful bride
Body of Christ
One flesh abiding
Strong and unifying
We’re not gonna fall and forget
How far You went to pick us up
If one part’s hurt the whole body’s sick
If one part mourns we all mourn with Him
Rejoice, we’ll sing with you
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
(Chorus)
Beautiful bride
Body of Christ
One flesh abiding
Strong and unifying
Fighting ends in forgiveness
Unite and fight all division
Beautiful bride
Beautiful bride
Body of Christ
One flesh abiding
Strong and unifying
Fighting ends in forgiveness
Unite and fight all division
Beautiful bride
Beautiful bride
Body of Christ
One flesh abiding
Strong and unifying
Fighting ends in forgiveness
Unite and fight all division
Beautiful bride
It’s not very often that a song will stop and make me think. When I did, I thought about this wondrous group of people I belong to, the Body and Bride of Christ. It is a humbling thing to think of the great men and women who came before me and how many gave up their lives to live and love for Jesus. I think of my friends now who struggle with every day issues of pride and anger and lust; yet for all our weaknesses, Jesus still loves us enough to call us His Love, His Bride.
Mastedon is the name of a Christian rock band formed by brothers Dino and John Elefante (former members and songwriters of Kansas) in the mid-80s. The band was formed mainly as a studio project and released two full-length albums and two stand-alone songs on compilation albums.
from me: I’ve been a huge fan of Mastedon since 1989. Being a young Christian metalhead, I stumbled upon this band with awe and reverence. I was at their one and only concert at Cornerstone ’91!
The Elefante brothers were the founders of Pakaderm Records which released some great Christian metal albums. X-Sinner and Guardian got their start on this label. Mastedon also released their second record, Lofcaudio, through Pakaderm. I’ll give you a minute to find the connecting dots of the names…Elefante brothers, Pakaderm Records, Mastedon…
Mastedon has always been head and shoulders above other Christian metal bands. All the other bands had their secular counterparts: Whitecross was the Christian Ratt, Barren Cross was the Christian Iron Maiden, X-Sinner was the Christian AC/DC. Mastedon had their own sound and their music was better than any other melodic metal band, secular or Christian.
After 19 long years, Mastedon has released some new tunes, and they have only gotten better. 3 is destined to become a classic, must-have for any melodic rock collector.
I have audio samples from each song from the new album below. If you love what you hear, and want Mastedon’s back catalog, you can but it from . iTunes is much cheaper than Amazon.com. They do not have the mp3 downloads.
I have give a big shout out to Bravewords.com, as they were crucial in my finding out about the new Mastedon album. They are a wealth of information for the avid music fan!
I created a killer playlist for my run this morning, selecting some of my favorite bands covering their favorite songs. There’s nothing like listening to Dream Theater sing Iron Maiden’s “To Tame A Land”, or Killswitch Engage play Dio’s “Holy Diver” or The Showdown jam to Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son”!
As I hit mile 2 on my run, Tesla’s cover of the classic Temptation song “A Ball of Confusion” started playing and really caught my attention.
“Fear in the air, tension everywhere” – what an accurate description of our society today! As I pondered the words, I was actually comforted to know that today’s problems were basically the same 35 years ago, which were basically the same problems as 100 years ago, and on and on. There truly is nothing new under the sun. God was there for past generations and is here for me today.
The evolution versus creationism debate has been raging through the Christian community for a long time now. Some Christians are literal 7 Day, the Earth is 10,000 years old creationists and some believe the earth could be billions of years old, and the God created everything through the mechanism of evolution. Both sides can be dogmatic and overbearing.
One such group that isn’t shy about what the believe in is a ministry called The Way of The Master. Fronted by Christian celebrity Kirk Cameron and quasi-apologist Ray Comfort, this ministry is finding new ways to sneak in the gospel to an unsuspecting audience. (And yeah, these are the same guys who unsuccessfully tried to “prove” that God exists without using the Bible. See the video here)
Watch the video below to see what their new plan is.
I’ll be the very first to admit that I am not a fan of this ministry at all. I think this is a propaganda piece with a lot of false information. Our kids can’t pray in public? Can’t open a Bible at school? What planet are these guys living on?
A friend of mine posted the following rebuttal video on Facebook. There is some minor language, just to let you know.
I gotta say, I like this girl. She is spunky and really feels passionate about what she is saying. She has some bad arguments at the end, but more importantly, she has some very good facts to present at the front of the video.
My original intent in writing this blog post was to talk about differing views of creationism. But after watching the videos again, I have a different problem with Way of the Master.
Why sneak in the Gospel? Are they going to be telling everyone they give the book to that there is a Gospel track inside? Are the life giving words of Jesus something to hide?
If I see You standing, one hundred stars away
It feels as though You’re touching me
If I am landing, with a stormy night delay
It’s You I want, it’s You I need
When I’m lost I close my eyes
And suddenly I’m home
(Chorus)
I just wanna run in You
I just wanna hide in You
I just wanna come to You
And not thirst anymore
I just wanna walk with You
I just wanna ride with You
I just wanna talk to You
And not thirst anymore
(Verse 2)
I feel demanding, I know I’m selfish too
I often live in my own world
I’ve been commanding, it’s my way or we’re through
If I am sand, you are the pearl
When I’m found I open my eyes
And it’s You I see
(Chorus)
The lyrics aren’t very deep or earth shattering, but they convey a longing to know Jesus better. I think the music makes you feel that joy and expectancy too.
Michael Sweet’s vocals are amazing and they convey a wide range of emotion. I hope they play this song live when I go see them in concert!! Only 3 months, 21 days and 20 hours to go!
Happy Anniversary Stryper! 25 years ago today, they released their EP entitled The Yellow and Black Attack. What an appropriate day to release their brand new album, Murder By Pride.
And what an album! Murder By Pride is probably the bands best album to date. In this post, we’ll take a listen to the title track of the record.
As with all of the other songs we’ve covered, I love everything about this song. The music is heavy and melodic and the band is just in top form. I love how the bass is prominent and drives the beat.
The only critique I’d have are the lyrics. I don’t expect anything deep or life changing, but the first verse is just kind of, I don’t know, hokey?
After 25 years of living life, with all the ups and downs it brings us, I’d hope for something a little deeper.
Lyrics to Murder By Pride
(Verse 1)
Saturday night’s a lie, I follow every cue
Sunday is sanctified, I smile and take the pew
Monday it’s back to school – Am I learning, not at all
Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday I just crawl
(Chorus)
Gotta fight, gotta stop living a lie
Gotta fall, gotta lay down and die
Gotta stand and run to the other side
Gotta live or it’s Murder By Pride
(Verse 2)
Seeds that were growing have been dried up by my flesh
I walk the walk and talk the talk but where’s the rest
I could have everything even what’s behind the stars
But I built my prison without windows, without bars
(Chorus)
Gotta fight, gotta stop living a lie
Gotta fall, gotta lay down and die
Gotta stand and run to the other side
Gotta live or it’s Murder By Pride
(Chorus)
Christianity is a tough thing to live out in the real world. There is absolutely no doubt about that. These guys and their music helped me become a Christ Follower over 20 years ago (read about it here), so I know that of which I speak. What I’ve learned in 20 years of walking with Jesus is that it isn’t only Sunday that is sanctified, but everyday….everything, the totality of my entire existence in this world is His to make wonderful. I know, I know, I’m reading way too much into a dumb song, but hey! it’s my blog and I can write whatever I feel! There are other songs that do describe a deepening walk with Jesus, so for that I’m grateful.
I want to say again how much I love this album and can’t wait to see Stryper in concert!! Only 3 months and 23 days!
Stryper started a new trend with a song on their 2005 Reborn album. It was entitled IGWT and was a cover of their original song, In God We Trust (off the album of the same name). It was refreshing to hear them update the song in a new way.
To keep the tradition alive, Stryper goes back to their first EP, The Yellow and Black Attack to remake a song entitled My Love (I’ll Always Show). To be honest, I really never cared for the original version. The vocals are a little twangy and well, I just don’t like it all that much.
Listen for yourself below:
For Murder By Pride, Stryper turns the amp up to 11 and makes this song a totally heavy metal affair! I love the new version so much! The guitars are heavy and the vocals are tight. Michael Sweet and Oz Fox can harmonize like nobody’s business! As with every other song on this album, it is completely awesome!
Don’t believe me? Put your ears close to the speakers and listen below:
You know I really love You
Your love is beautiful, it’s lasting and true
You’re always on my mind and I want You to be
My love and Savior, the only one I need
I’ve searched for true love for a long, long time
Now my search has ended, just ’cause You are mine
(Chorus)
I’ll always love You and I’ll always tell You so
As long as I’m with You, My Love I’ll Always Show Woa-ooh yeah
(Verse 2)
Whenever I’m sad and feeling I’m through
I begin to feel happy as I sit and think of You
I think of Your face and Your personality
You are so beautiful, You’re everything to me
I’ve searched for true love for a long, long time
Now my search has ended, just ’cause You are mine
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I saw this cartoon posted today 
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