A classic from one of the greatest (censored) comics of all time, Bill Hicks. Inspiration for hundreds of stand-ups as well as the band Tool and one of their best songs. Recently unearthed from the comedy vaults is Hicks' last taped performance which was supposed to air on Letterman, but apparently the world was not ready. My favorite part was him trying to explain how the Easter Bunny relates to Jesus' resurrection. I'm not sure the developers of that tradition even know. You can watch the whole thing, but the bunny part is between 4:30 and 6:20. It had me cracking up.
Watch It Here!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
You Want Proof?
Many Atheists and Agnostics claim that a belief in the Judeo-Christian God (especially one that results in living for Him) is as ridiculous as guiding your life by the gospel of the invisible pink unicorn or the flying spaghetti monster. This is a totally wrong idea and I will tell you why. Following God, especially as a Christian, is more rewarding than anything else in the world. I've never heard of anyone giving up drugs, sex, or going radical for the IPU or the FSM. But Christ, He gets the freaks, fanatics, and followers. If that's not a step in the right direction, I don't know what else to say.
Don't be the lizard.
Don't be the lizard.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Technology Is Not Making Us Stupid, We Are Making Technology Stupid
I am appalled at those who are against technology. Truth be told, I am one of those, but I am not against technology itself. Rather, I abhor the way technology is used. It seems as if the more we know about the world, the less we know about ourselves. We have allowed machines to do all the work for us. As mentioned in a previous post; they tell us what to do, how to do it, and everything else about the world. Modern technology has eliminated the use of creativity, knowledge, talent, memory skills, and mind buffers. Laziness has become an epidemic, and it is not because technology has allowed or forced it upon us, we have allowed it to happen.
People always use all these new inventions as an excuse to be less human (dumber, lazier, easier, slower, etc.) but even with all this around us, nothing's really changed. Since the invention of the wheel people have been working hard to come up with ways to work less. And this doesn't make the general population any less stupid. People have always had the capacity to be perverted, stupid, ignorant, and lazy. We see examples of this in the Bible. Moses was barely gone for three days and people began worshipping a golden calf. (An aside, the spell check claims 'worshipping' only has one 'p'. Perfect example of people...) After spending this entire time in the desert, mysteriously and miraculously receiving food every day, seeing the Red Sea part, and all kinds of other signs, Moses takes a long weekend off TO TALK TO GOD and the rest is history. Read Proverbs 7. Or Song of Solomon. People are no more perverted now than they were back then, it's just more accepted. It's not that technology has made us any worse of a race, we have used technology to our advantage to express our ideas, visions, and thoughts. Most of those turn out to be homosexual, desires of the flesh, ridiculous, or just plain dumb.
Technology has made things better, faster, easier, and dumber. But only because we have made it that way. There are no buffers, censors, or guards on the internet. Anyone can publish anything about anything or anyone. The most common man now has a voice. Before modern technology, you had to be somebody, you had to prove yourself worthy, you had to do something memorable in order to obtain a voice, or some room in the public eye. It has never been about giving the public what they want, it was giving them what they need. FDR's fireside chats were the best chicken soup for the concerned American citizen. Had they known he was in a wheelchair - he might have never even been made president. Oh, but what about Obama? Is it possible we only voted him in because he's black. Put both presidents side by side strictly on non-visual debates (radio, newspapers, even live IM chats) and McCain is the better choice. More qualified, more serious, more experience. Sprite is dead wrong.
Over the past 50 years we have invented and improved the technology necessary to give Joe the Plumber a voice. Let me tell you something, Joe the Plumber has nothing to say. Flooding the markets with useless, pointless, unintelligent banter blocks the path of the poignant, important, necessary, and truthful. The righteous, the beautiful, the bold. Letting the common man say and do what he wants on TV, Internet, and Radio only allows the rest of the common men to see, hear, feel, and experience the things they already want and do without having to think it themselves. It makes the lazy lazier and the dumb dumber. Let's say a mouse wants a piece of cheese, and knows it needs that piece of cheese, but it needs to go through a maze to get that piece of cheese. Now a smarter mouse appears on the TV in front of it and shows the other mouse exactly how to go through the maze to get that piece of cheese. The end result is no one accomplishes anything. The dumber one knows it needs the piece of cheese, and the smarter one knows how to get it. The adage "teach a man to fish" comes to mind.
We are spoiling ourselves by giving us too much of ourselves, resulting in wanting even more of ourselves. Television, movies, and music are full of drug use, sex, and all those things God warns us about. The more they are shown on television, the more the dumb people want to have them. This is the genius behind advertising. Show the beautiful people having fun with a particular thing and the ugly people will want it, thinking it will make them beautiful. Same with the cool people. Who makes these rules anyway? Who is to say what is cool and what is not? There was a time when literacy was cool. If you could read, you were instantly popular. Now, failing classes seems to be the cool thing to do. The better you succeed at failing, and the crazier your reason is for doing so, the more you are respected for it. Where did we go do wrong? Technology has not made anyone dumber, we have made technology dumber. The Internet was invented around the time of WWII, solely for the military to communicate on a private line. Over the next forty years it was developed for personal use (Al Gore will take the credit for it) and is now the free-blog, porn-bot, scammer-heaven that all the common people dreamed about.
We live in a microwave generation. Everything has to be instant, super-fast, easy to digest. People don't want to read anymore (not even a single paragraph), and they don't even want to watch clips longer than 3 minutes. Television and internet has not done that to us. We have forced these media devices to teach us these rules. People have no interest in anything because there are too many things to interest us. We can watch TV on our phones now, so while waiting in line at the bank you can catch up on the latest episode of I Love New York. However, the line only takes 6 minutes to go through, so you can only watch something for 5 minutes. Better watch the Cliff's Notes version. People follow the gods they believe in. Media and money are the new American gods. If we make these new technologies Christ-centered, people would become Christ-centered. But NO! That is Un-American and I am unpatriotic if I feel that the country should be entirely Christian. Look, God tells us Jesus is the only way. If you don't want to believe that, that's fine. God can handle it. Just don't build a golden calf. If Muslim countries can force the entire population to be Muslim or be killed, we can at least *encourage* American citizens to be a little more righteous and Christ-focused. We can show how the homosexual, gangster, athiest, pimp, player, hustler and whore lifestyles really are undesireable as much as we portray them as "cool".
The intellects need to take back technology. We need to raise the standards of what good television, good music, and good internet is. We need to separate entertainment and education, or at least relate education to entertainment rather than creating the false hype that education must be entertaining. If we can educate while being entertaining rather than being entertaining while educating, we have succeeded. Life can begin improving with a few simple steps. We also need to make caring desireable. The only thing Americans know is the self. Take care of that first, and then possibly help others. We are so incredibly selfish, and it is the media to blame. Not the news, that is a totally different story, but internet, radio, and television are all self-enticing. I'm sorry that this post is so long, but it is a very important issue and there is much more to say about it. I hope some day soon I can have a round-table discussion about this in some form on some forum, preferrably television. Not that anyone would watch because this wouldn't be necessarily entertaining, candid, or scandalous. Plus it would upset most the television-viewing audience. But that is up to God to decide. If he wants to improve the gene pool, Hoover Dam will rupture one day and flood America. That and California will sink into the ocean. Let's hope it happens soon because God needs all the help He can get when it is time to invade Hell.
Don't be the lizard.
People always use all these new inventions as an excuse to be less human (dumber, lazier, easier, slower, etc.) but even with all this around us, nothing's really changed. Since the invention of the wheel people have been working hard to come up with ways to work less. And this doesn't make the general population any less stupid. People have always had the capacity to be perverted, stupid, ignorant, and lazy. We see examples of this in the Bible. Moses was barely gone for three days and people began worshipping a golden calf. (An aside, the spell check claims 'worshipping' only has one 'p'. Perfect example of people...) After spending this entire time in the desert, mysteriously and miraculously receiving food every day, seeing the Red Sea part, and all kinds of other signs, Moses takes a long weekend off TO TALK TO GOD and the rest is history. Read Proverbs 7. Or Song of Solomon. People are no more perverted now than they were back then, it's just more accepted. It's not that technology has made us any worse of a race, we have used technology to our advantage to express our ideas, visions, and thoughts. Most of those turn out to be homosexual, desires of the flesh, ridiculous, or just plain dumb.
Technology has made things better, faster, easier, and dumber. But only because we have made it that way. There are no buffers, censors, or guards on the internet. Anyone can publish anything about anything or anyone. The most common man now has a voice. Before modern technology, you had to be somebody, you had to prove yourself worthy, you had to do something memorable in order to obtain a voice, or some room in the public eye. It has never been about giving the public what they want, it was giving them what they need. FDR's fireside chats were the best chicken soup for the concerned American citizen. Had they known he was in a wheelchair - he might have never even been made president. Oh, but what about Obama? Is it possible we only voted him in because he's black. Put both presidents side by side strictly on non-visual debates (radio, newspapers, even live IM chats) and McCain is the better choice. More qualified, more serious, more experience. Sprite is dead wrong.
Over the past 50 years we have invented and improved the technology necessary to give Joe the Plumber a voice. Let me tell you something, Joe the Plumber has nothing to say. Flooding the markets with useless, pointless, unintelligent banter blocks the path of the poignant, important, necessary, and truthful. The righteous, the beautiful, the bold. Letting the common man say and do what he wants on TV, Internet, and Radio only allows the rest of the common men to see, hear, feel, and experience the things they already want and do without having to think it themselves. It makes the lazy lazier and the dumb dumber. Let's say a mouse wants a piece of cheese, and knows it needs that piece of cheese, but it needs to go through a maze to get that piece of cheese. Now a smarter mouse appears on the TV in front of it and shows the other mouse exactly how to go through the maze to get that piece of cheese. The end result is no one accomplishes anything. The dumber one knows it needs the piece of cheese, and the smarter one knows how to get it. The adage "teach a man to fish" comes to mind.
We are spoiling ourselves by giving us too much of ourselves, resulting in wanting even more of ourselves. Television, movies, and music are full of drug use, sex, and all those things God warns us about. The more they are shown on television, the more the dumb people want to have them. This is the genius behind advertising. Show the beautiful people having fun with a particular thing and the ugly people will want it, thinking it will make them beautiful. Same with the cool people. Who makes these rules anyway? Who is to say what is cool and what is not? There was a time when literacy was cool. If you could read, you were instantly popular. Now, failing classes seems to be the cool thing to do. The better you succeed at failing, and the crazier your reason is for doing so, the more you are respected for it. Where did we go do wrong? Technology has not made anyone dumber, we have made technology dumber. The Internet was invented around the time of WWII, solely for the military to communicate on a private line. Over the next forty years it was developed for personal use (Al Gore will take the credit for it) and is now the free-blog, porn-bot, scammer-heaven that all the common people dreamed about.
We live in a microwave generation. Everything has to be instant, super-fast, easy to digest. People don't want to read anymore (not even a single paragraph), and they don't even want to watch clips longer than 3 minutes. Television and internet has not done that to us. We have forced these media devices to teach us these rules. People have no interest in anything because there are too many things to interest us. We can watch TV on our phones now, so while waiting in line at the bank you can catch up on the latest episode of I Love New York. However, the line only takes 6 minutes to go through, so you can only watch something for 5 minutes. Better watch the Cliff's Notes version. People follow the gods they believe in. Media and money are the new American gods. If we make these new technologies Christ-centered, people would become Christ-centered. But NO! That is Un-American and I am unpatriotic if I feel that the country should be entirely Christian. Look, God tells us Jesus is the only way. If you don't want to believe that, that's fine. God can handle it. Just don't build a golden calf. If Muslim countries can force the entire population to be Muslim or be killed, we can at least *encourage* American citizens to be a little more righteous and Christ-focused. We can show how the homosexual, gangster, athiest, pimp, player, hustler and whore lifestyles really are undesireable as much as we portray them as "cool".
The intellects need to take back technology. We need to raise the standards of what good television, good music, and good internet is. We need to separate entertainment and education, or at least relate education to entertainment rather than creating the false hype that education must be entertaining. If we can educate while being entertaining rather than being entertaining while educating, we have succeeded. Life can begin improving with a few simple steps. We also need to make caring desireable. The only thing Americans know is the self. Take care of that first, and then possibly help others. We are so incredibly selfish, and it is the media to blame. Not the news, that is a totally different story, but internet, radio, and television are all self-enticing. I'm sorry that this post is so long, but it is a very important issue and there is much more to say about it. I hope some day soon I can have a round-table discussion about this in some form on some forum, preferrably television. Not that anyone would watch because this wouldn't be necessarily entertaining, candid, or scandalous. Plus it would upset most the television-viewing audience. But that is up to God to decide. If he wants to improve the gene pool, Hoover Dam will rupture one day and flood America. That and California will sink into the ocean. Let's hope it happens soon because God needs all the help He can get when it is time to invade Hell.
Don't be the lizard.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
We Need to Pray Like Never Before
For this world grows more desperate, hopeless
to ever find a way out, to ever discover freedom.
The higher we climb as a society
the farther we fall as a nation.
The closer we grow as a race,
the further we part as a species.
The only solution lies within us,
we need to pray like never before.
Our president is black just like our hearts,
the media tells us what and how to think.
We are fighting fights that needn’t be fought
and unconstitutionalizing the constitution.
We need to pray like never before.
Raise holy hands and kneel humble knees,
the world is crying for a Savior.
Pray like never before.
The Earth is dying, groaning for a leader.
Live like never before.
Darkness is closing in,
Love like never before.
Our prayers must be louder than ever before
to drown out the sound of broken hearts.
Our peace must be bolder than ever before
to mend our deceitful ways.
Our promises must be held like never before
to cover all the lies.
We need to pray like never before
to open Heaven’s gates.
to ever find a way out, to ever discover freedom.
The higher we climb as a society
the farther we fall as a nation.
The closer we grow as a race,
the further we part as a species.
The only solution lies within us,
we need to pray like never before.
Our president is black just like our hearts,
the media tells us what and how to think.
We are fighting fights that needn’t be fought
and unconstitutionalizing the constitution.
We need to pray like never before.
Raise holy hands and kneel humble knees,
the world is crying for a Savior.
Pray like never before.
The Earth is dying, groaning for a leader.
Live like never before.
Darkness is closing in,
Love like never before.
Our prayers must be louder than ever before
to drown out the sound of broken hearts.
Our peace must be bolder than ever before
to mend our deceitful ways.
Our promises must be held like never before
to cover all the lies.
We need to pray like never before
to open Heaven’s gates.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Pragmatism and Dogmatic Bible-Thumping
I recently watched a movie on truth and it predominantly features a concept I have had on my heart for a long time but couldn’t put a name to it. Now I can, and it is pragmatism. You can check out the definition here. For those lazy types (like myself) it is basically a system of belief that makes truth relative and is an enemy of True Christianity. This system is dangerous and poses a threat to the real way of life. It debunks Biblical tradition and discourages radical Christ-following. Now, it is seeping into Christian society and churches are buying into it. “Sunday morning Christians” definitely fit this profile, and the Emerging Church has a problem here as well.
I personally was saved at a Presbyterian church which I now realize is also pragmatic, although they consider themselves “Non-Denominational” (which is becoming a denomination itself). However, I left before the end of a year attending because of many reasons, the main one being that it wasn’t practical. Emotional, yes. Powerful, yes. Immense, yes. However, they had no real bible studies, no fellowship ministries, and many of the mentors weren’t real good on keeping in touch let alone not the most qualified to be leading new Christians. Not that we aren’t all sinners and we all have problems and make mistakes, but I feel that church leaders need to be at least a little more righteous than their followers.
The “Christian” version of pragmatism strictly follows the practice of ‘giving the people what they want’ rather then telling them what they need to hear. This is why mega churches are so successful—and why this country is so deep in sacrilege. All you ever hear from these churches is how God is ready to bless you, how God can save you from every ail and woe, how quickly God is ready to forgive you and how much God loves you. They forget to mention how we are held accountable for our sins—past and present—how God judges all people, God still holds us in contempt, and He only gives us what we need according to His will. The belief my old church held was that if you want a new Mercedes you must declare it, believe God will give it to you, and pray for it. Within a few months, you will mysteriously obtain this fancy vehicle. If you remember the old Bible story, this is how Jesus got that beautiful Arabian Stallion.
Jesus never rode a horse. He never wore fancy clothes. Heck, He barely wore clothes at all. He gave all His money to people who had none. And trust me, He made loads of money in His ministry. Jesus never had a house, Jesus never gave in to temptation, and Jesus lived by faith. He served the servants, He dressed the naked, He healed the sick. We cannot make God move if He doesn’t want to move. A major problem with pragmatic churches is that they discourage the use of faith. It provides constant emotional, powerful feelings of connectedness to God without much effort. It enforces the continual presence of the Holy Spirit. It feeds us lies. God is always there, God is always watching, but sometimes it won’t feel like it. Sometimes we need to employ our faith in order to assure ourselves that God really is aware, always. Some churches measure the congregation’s holiness by spiritual gifts (speaking in tongues, healing, etc.) while others do it by the fruits it produces and the protectiveness the people seem to have. This is a dangerous theology to live by. God isn’t biased, God isn’t one-sided. With Him, you get the good and the bad. You get the love and the wrath. You get the life of Jesus and His death. Sin is sin, truth is not relative. God’s word never returns void. It is all anyone ever needs to be saved. It is not emotion, it is not power, it is not logic. It is Truth.
Don’t be pragmatic. Don’t be the lizard.
I personally was saved at a Presbyterian church which I now realize is also pragmatic, although they consider themselves “Non-Denominational” (which is becoming a denomination itself). However, I left before the end of a year attending because of many reasons, the main one being that it wasn’t practical. Emotional, yes. Powerful, yes. Immense, yes. However, they had no real bible studies, no fellowship ministries, and many of the mentors weren’t real good on keeping in touch let alone not the most qualified to be leading new Christians. Not that we aren’t all sinners and we all have problems and make mistakes, but I feel that church leaders need to be at least a little more righteous than their followers.
The “Christian” version of pragmatism strictly follows the practice of ‘giving the people what they want’ rather then telling them what they need to hear. This is why mega churches are so successful—and why this country is so deep in sacrilege. All you ever hear from these churches is how God is ready to bless you, how God can save you from every ail and woe, how quickly God is ready to forgive you and how much God loves you. They forget to mention how we are held accountable for our sins—past and present—how God judges all people, God still holds us in contempt, and He only gives us what we need according to His will. The belief my old church held was that if you want a new Mercedes you must declare it, believe God will give it to you, and pray for it. Within a few months, you will mysteriously obtain this fancy vehicle. If you remember the old Bible story, this is how Jesus got that beautiful Arabian Stallion.
Jesus never rode a horse. He never wore fancy clothes. Heck, He barely wore clothes at all. He gave all His money to people who had none. And trust me, He made loads of money in His ministry. Jesus never had a house, Jesus never gave in to temptation, and Jesus lived by faith. He served the servants, He dressed the naked, He healed the sick. We cannot make God move if He doesn’t want to move. A major problem with pragmatic churches is that they discourage the use of faith. It provides constant emotional, powerful feelings of connectedness to God without much effort. It enforces the continual presence of the Holy Spirit. It feeds us lies. God is always there, God is always watching, but sometimes it won’t feel like it. Sometimes we need to employ our faith in order to assure ourselves that God really is aware, always. Some churches measure the congregation’s holiness by spiritual gifts (speaking in tongues, healing, etc.) while others do it by the fruits it produces and the protectiveness the people seem to have. This is a dangerous theology to live by. God isn’t biased, God isn’t one-sided. With Him, you get the good and the bad. You get the love and the wrath. You get the life of Jesus and His death. Sin is sin, truth is not relative. God’s word never returns void. It is all anyone ever needs to be saved. It is not emotion, it is not power, it is not logic. It is Truth.
Don’t be pragmatic. Don’t be the lizard.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sheer Genius
There are plenty of bands with plenty of messages regarding social issues and commentary, but most are intentional. One band in particular does this without making it obvious, and that is Toadies. From the last track off their first album to the first track off their last album, both these songs as well as others depict modern society in less-than-fabulous ways but are delivered in a subtle way. Here are the lyrics from the aforementioned song off No Deliverance (2008).
So Long Lovely Eyes
So long lovely eyes
Somehow we have found ourselves tonight with
No more happy sighs
Hold your breath & hope for something better
We got so far away (x3)
From the fire that we started
How did we get so f***ing cold
So f***ing cold
So now ease your mind
All good things must have an ending, how we
Live, love, laughed & cried
But matters they seem like just a fantasy
We got so far away (x3)
From the fire that we started
How did we get so f***ing cold
So f***ing cold
How did we get so
How did we get so f***ing
How did we get so f***ing cold
So f***ing cold
Couldn't put it better myself. Now, download the song, buy the album, attend their shows, support the band. And don't be the lizard.
So Long Lovely Eyes
So long lovely eyes
Somehow we have found ourselves tonight with
No more happy sighs
Hold your breath & hope for something better
We got so far away (x3)
From the fire that we started
How did we get so f***ing cold
So f***ing cold
So now ease your mind
All good things must have an ending, how we
Live, love, laughed & cried
But matters they seem like just a fantasy
We got so far away (x3)
From the fire that we started
How did we get so f***ing cold
So f***ing cold
How did we get so
How did we get so f***ing
How did we get so f***ing cold
So f***ing cold
Couldn't put it better myself. Now, download the song, buy the album, attend their shows, support the band. And don't be the lizard.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Transforming From a Goen to a Be
Churches need to stop encouraging people to go to church. Rather, they need to help congregations become the church. Over the course of my year and a half Christian walk this is a concept I have heard repeatedly and become obsessed with. It's rather important, especially considering the Bible tells us we are the church as a whole. The Greek word, "ekklesia" simply means "assembly" or "gathering". Throughout the epistles we see evidence of this regarding Christ and His followers being the body. We are all part of one. Every church should be moving people from going to being. Just as going to McDonald's doesn't make you a Big Mac, going to church doesn't make you a Christian. It's what is in the heart, the mind, and the act that makes it so.
I know this is a hard thing to do, just as an athlete would practice more and work harder to break records, receive more acclaim, and/or get better pay he probably wouldn't do it if it were just for the sake of the team. The same goes for Christianity. If it makes you rich, makes you happy, makes you stronger, or gives you peace--devotion is easy. However, when it comes to the collective good, people seem to have a hard time. Not only do people tend to live inwardly lives, they forget to spread the love and message of Jesus. This is not a selfish message, this is not something intended to be kept for oneself. It is about living other-oriented in a me-first society. Being the church is a lot more than just singing some songs and sitting in a building for a few hours Sunday morning.
A good analogy for this concept is being unleashed in the form of either a flood or a river. Consider the collective body of Christ in this way. If it is a flood, it is haphazard. It is destructive, wild, and encroaching. It moves very fast but is not pretty nor does anybody any good. If it is a river, it is controlled, it is useful, it is a beautiful sight and it has one solitary place to go. Churches need to preach this message more. The Bible tells us we are each a part of the body, each doing the thing that part is intended to do, but overall it works together and works efficiently to complete tasks. Study Corinthians, particularly chapters one and two. It is a good beginning guide to being the church. As my pastor put it, "A growing church is a group of individuals who are collectively moving from living selfishly to living selflessly for God's purpose."
Be the church, don't be the lizard.
I know this is a hard thing to do, just as an athlete would practice more and work harder to break records, receive more acclaim, and/or get better pay he probably wouldn't do it if it were just for the sake of the team. The same goes for Christianity. If it makes you rich, makes you happy, makes you stronger, or gives you peace--devotion is easy. However, when it comes to the collective good, people seem to have a hard time. Not only do people tend to live inwardly lives, they forget to spread the love and message of Jesus. This is not a selfish message, this is not something intended to be kept for oneself. It is about living other-oriented in a me-first society. Being the church is a lot more than just singing some songs and sitting in a building for a few hours Sunday morning.
A good analogy for this concept is being unleashed in the form of either a flood or a river. Consider the collective body of Christ in this way. If it is a flood, it is haphazard. It is destructive, wild, and encroaching. It moves very fast but is not pretty nor does anybody any good. If it is a river, it is controlled, it is useful, it is a beautiful sight and it has one solitary place to go. Churches need to preach this message more. The Bible tells us we are each a part of the body, each doing the thing that part is intended to do, but overall it works together and works efficiently to complete tasks. Study Corinthians, particularly chapters one and two. It is a good beginning guide to being the church. As my pastor put it, "A growing church is a group of individuals who are collectively moving from living selfishly to living selflessly for God's purpose."
Be the church, don't be the lizard.
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