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NaBloWriMo Day 5 – THE POWER OF CHRIST
Religious practice. One of those things that is most likely to get two people at each other’s throats the fastest. The other one is politics and recently I’ve resisted even typing that word for fear of Glenn Beck jumping through the wall and doing a running tackle followed by a brainwashing.
Seriously Mr. Beck. Stay outta my house. You freaky.
Truth be told, I think Glenn has made some seriously good points on a few things. I’m going to stop typing about politics and switch back to Jesus. Jesus loves everyone. Even if I can’t.
I’ve caught myself saying that more often these days. There are certain days when people (a general statement so as to not label, target and otherwise be sued) just drive me crazy. Loving them falls so far down the list of priorities it bounces a few times before I kick it out the front door. I know as a Christian I’m supposed to love everyone, turn the other cheek and keep that plank from settling too deep in my eye but it is so gal-darned hard!
AMC Best Picture Showcase in Review
This morning came far too early for my particularly late sleeping tastes. In fact, I almost hit the snooze button and rolled over. Almost. You see, this morning began an odyssey of movie watching geekdom unparalleled to anything see before. At least for this blogger. AMC Theatres has been doing this for the past few years, but I apparently didn’t get the memo until a few weeks ago when the buzz began to build.
The Oscar Showcase is a genius of a plan. Every year before the bling infested glitzy overload event known as the Academy Awards plays across our televisions, AMC Theatres wrangles together a day of Oscar Nominated movies for viewing by the general public. For the cheap price of thirty dollars, we all get a full day of fantastic film footage.
The social media experiment has taken off with AMC and they’ve actually hired a full time guy to handle that aspect of the machine. With his help, AMC has taken the unique step of asking bloggers, twitterers and others to attend events and blog, vlog and twitter about the entire day. I was among the many chosen. Today was the culmination of that and I have to say it’s started out very well. Five movies will equal about 13.5 hours of moving pictures playing across the screens nationwide.
I’ll be doing my best to review these movies and talk about the experience as this article unfolds. There’ll be video, pictures and of course words to paint the picture. So get ready. Here…we..GO!
Angst and Agony
Authors note: I’ve decided to do some writing about my work in youth ministries. This is part one in an ongoing series where I’ll talk about issues facing the kids of today from my perspective and give some thoughts on where we might go from here. Feel free to comment, complain or otherwise give your thoughts. -aaron
If I asked you to name the chief complaints you had about the youth of today I have the good sense to know the list would go on and on and on into infinity. It seems no matter what generation you live in, what year it is or what country you live in the youth are always regarded in a negative light for enumerable reasons. Truth is I’d probably agree with you on most if not all of the litany of lists you’d present.
The truth is the youth of today (and by proxy the future of tomorrow) are troubled by more than any group of teenagers that have come before. If you don’t believe me try the following experiment. Volunteer at a nearby church, youth center or other assorted group for a period of a month for just one day a week. Watch. Observe. Listen. Repeat.
I’m a people watcher and in that I observe. I listen. I might even eavesdrop. I watch people’s eyes. I peer behind the eyes in hopes of seeing the raw emotion that lies just beyond the horizon. In those moments from afar you can sometimes see a flash of the life being lived.
I can guarantee you that that world view you’ve occupied for so long will slowly begin to change as you spend more time with them.
Rediscovering Religion
Blogger’s note: You might want to read this one first in which it talks about how this relates a bit to my stroke.
Over six months ago I found myself dumbstruck with what can only be described as bubbling rage and simmering annoyance. I found myself a victim of what I can only imagine was church politics raging out of control. I’m still unsure as to what all led to the events that I cannot describe but I can say I found myself seriously questioning God’s flock and those that moved with it.
In that time since I have stayed away from Church as a whole, unable to trust those within. Unwilling even to try it out again, to seek out the Faith that my father led me in discovering at the tender age of three. The Faith that had led me through my elementary years in Oregon learning in the shadow of the charismatic Foursquare Denomination. The Faith that saved me from depression, anger, rage and even suicidal tendencies in the midst of a tumultuous three years of Junior High School. It is a Faith that had given me hope throughout High School in the face of Columbine and then September 11th.
Naming Mohammad
Attention everyone. According to Muslims across the pond, it’s perfectly acceptable to use Mohammad’s name to give your child an identity. However, if you name a teddy bear after the prophet, all hell breaks loose. Seriously. I cannot make this up. Via Hot Air,
A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Sudanese boy yesterday defended the British teacher accused of insulting Islam, saying he had chosen to call a teddy bear Mohammad because it was his own name.
And now the British Teacher will be charged. People wonder why I still sit on the fence in regards to Muslim practices and Sharia Law and this is exactly why. Via Michelle Malkin.
The British schoolteacher who allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed has been charged in Sudan with insulting religion and inciting hatred, state media has reported.
“Khartoum north prosecution unit has completed its investigation and has charged the Briton Gillian (Gibbons) under Article 125 of the criminal code,” SUNA said quoting a senior Justice Ministry official. It added the file would go before court on Thursday.
This is along the same lines of what happened when the cartoon stuff went downhill. I’ve talked about this many times and I’ve begun to lose track.
I will talk about this on my show on Thursday @ 7:00pm Mountain but I wanted to slap this story around here on the blog. Does anyone see the rational for this? Maybe my perspective as a freedom loving tolerance practicing intelligence practicing kind of guy is getting in the way. You wanna name your kid Jesus? Go ahead. Not my problem. But if I name him Mohammad, I’m up for physical violence and even prison time in the depths of the Middle East.
This dovetails with the story this last week that came out of Saudi Arabia about the young lady who was violated in the most disgusting manner and then received punishment because of course she was talking/riding/in the same personal bubble as a man unrelated to her and that means she must PAY THE PRICE for something she had nothing to do with. The fact that the United States of America is friends with the Saudis apparently led to us giving muted protests.
That is unacceptable. I make this statement now to my President and the Government of the United States of America. If you will not step in and do something about these issues, I will loose faith in your ability to protect those that are in need. We send billions to Saudi because of oil. We’re friendly with them.
That ends now. Basic human rights are being violated by countries the world over and the EU, UN, Amnesty Intl and others seem unable to take action. As it seems to be the case, we’re the only ones left with the balls to saddle up. And yet we’ve even lost those somewhere along the way.
More to come on the radio show on Thursday.
Message to Osama
Hey, Mr. Hate-America-Want-To-Kill-All-It-Stands-For,
Shove it. Via Yahoo News:
CAIRO, Egypt – Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a video Friday released ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end.
Guess what? Not. Gonna. Happen. I follow God and worship in the House of the Lord. I pray to a merciful, loving and forgiving God. I will not submit. I will not be threatened. I will not be told what to believe, how to believe or when to believe. You are not the boss of me. You can take your growing wing of Islam and run of a cliff into the water like lemmings.
Others have spoken about this at length with support from various people the world around.
Allow me to personally state my position.
I. Will. Not. Surrender.
I. Will. Not. Submit.
Hatin’
So the Pope doesn’t think I’m a true Christian.
Say huh?
So sayeth’ the man who is alleged to have the ear of God (which is always up for debate from Falwell to Clinton) and because he says this is the way it is, it’s truth. What bothers me most about this whole Pope saying these things is that the Church has divided for this same reason. The whole inability for certain groups (I ain’t sayin’ all of ‘em) to accept us as Brothers in the Faith. It’s a gigantic PR error on the part of the Pope and it does nothing except show the people on the outside that we are really just bunch of Christian Idiots.
As for my belief I don’t think we should even have a Pope or a Pope-esque guy to be honest. I believe we should have leadership and people in charge but not with the (pardon the language) damn near Almighty Power he carries in those hands of his. I also don’t believe Priests should be prevented from getting married. I honestly think it’s one of those plans that needs be rethunk because of all the insanity and terrible suffering, pain and abuse that’s come out of that policy being allowed to stick around.
The Catholic Church probably doesn’t like me now but I’m not really into caring because the struggles of the church can not be ignored any longer. Moving forward into This Modern World is a big step for any Faith, Religion or the freaky deaky cultys. But it has to happen. The Faith doesn’t change. Jesus is still tops of the town. God’s still the only God. But we also have to realize traditions have their place but so does adapting to the world of tomorrow.
My friend Scott says there are certain times you should use curse words in reaction to certain situations. I told him that’s bupkiss. I have to say this whacky proclamation nearly brought me into a full “What the *&^#%@” fit but I took my medication, got the shock treatments and all’s well that ends well.
What do you think of the Pope-man’s proclamation?
HE IS RISEN!
Matthew 28
The Resurrection
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
He is Risen!
My Easter Thoughts:
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It’s Friday…
But Sunday’s coming! I’ve talked about this here and here. Today is Good Friday.
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’!
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’. It was Friday, and my Jesus is dead on a tree. But that’s Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’.
Friday, Mary’s crying her eyes out, the disciples are running in every direction like sheep without a shepherd. But that’s Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’.
Friday, some are looking at the world and saying, “As things have been, so they shall be. You can’t change nothing in this world! You can’t change nothing in this world!” But they didn’t know that it was only Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’.
Friday, them forces that oppress the poor and keep people down, them forces that destroy people, the forces in control now, them forces that are gonna rule, they don’t know it’s only Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’.
Friday, people are saying, “Darkness is gonna rule the world, sadness is gonna be everywhere,” but they don’t know it’s only Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’. Even though this world is rotten, as it is right now, we know it’s only Friday.
But Sunday’s a comin’.
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Live from the 303 by Aaron DeLay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. -
