What are you listening to?

There are many bands out there…too many to number. But there are a few are bands that you should really listen to. I was thinking about this because a favorite band of mine that broke up a few years back is getting back together (Further Seems Forever) with all the original members. This excited me! It also had me looking through my itunes to find bands that I might suggest you listen to. So, without further adieu here is the list in no particular order…well alphabetical.

Artist vs Poet

As Tall As Lions

Athlete

The Bird & The Bee

Block Party

The Civil Wars

Imogen Heap

Lovedrug

LoveHateHero

Mae

MEW

mewithoutYou

Mumford & Sons

Muse

The Swell Season

 

Here are the bands that I know I should be listening to…and have on itunes…but don’t listen to. (or listen to as much as I should)

Arctic Monkeys

The Arcade Fire

Bon Iver

Grizzly Bear

Iron & Wine

 

So, there you have it. What is missing from the list? What are you listening to?

Can a Christian…

…not be a fundamentalist.

Short answer Yes.

Long answer YES! In fact I would beg to argue that fundamentalism is such a stretch of the Gospel that it leads to heresy. I make no apologies here but my intent is not to offend. Here is the thing. The Jews thought that they had to keep all these laws and it would bring them closer to understanding God; make them more holy.

This is where Paul (and you can read it for yourself in Galatians, Hebrews, etc.) comes in and says, hold on a second. You have become slaves to the law. You have let the law, not bring you closer to God but have let it  pull you so far away from God that you are leading others…others who think the law is the way…to become slaves to the law as well.

As (a) Christian(s) I(we) need to be careful of how many things we want to put between us and our relationship with Christ. Listen, God can tear down walls, but why build them in the first place?

Cheers!

Can a Christian…

…be something other than a republican?

Well as a matter of fact yes they can! Despite popular misconceptions not all Christians are republicans. Now, I’m not talking about the ones who some how claim to be democrats…please don’t even get me started! I’m talking about the ones who are tried of big government. The ones who are tired of all the lobbyists and big bankers making all the rules.

Here is my problem with the left and right. They are so completely out of touch with the public that neither side really knows what we want. Here is what I want…and I’m sure that there will be plenty on the right that will disagree. I don’t really care about the left haha.

1. I believe abortion is murder and should be illegal.

2. I believe that we should have the right to bear arms.

3. I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman…but banning gay marriage is not a solution.

4. I believe that people that are in this country illegally should not be here. I don’t care what color you are, what language you speak, or what job you supposedly stole from me. If you are here illegally then you need to go.

5. I believe that war should be a last resort. (I’m still not sure where I stand exactly on this issue, thanks James! But I think we need to know exactly what we are going to war for before it happens.)

6. I think that the president needs to do something he promised, and that is be transparent. When Obama was elected he said that everything would be open and everyone would know what was going on (a paraphrase of course). Now, I don’t want things in the open that are going to harm others (cough wikileaks!) but I do want him to be honest…is that so much to ask?

7. I don’t think that making more laws solve anything. The problem is we have enough laws already and we don’t enforce them. All we are doing is making the government bigger and allowing them to control more and more aspects of our lives.

 

If you want to read more I will post some links…now…some people out there…welll are kinda crazy. So, with that…go to infowars with a grain of salt. Sometimes they get all conspiracy theory and it just gets weird haha.   

Info Wars

The Constitution Party

Let Freedom Ring USA

Cheers!

The Unpopular Truth

The truth offends. The truth is direct and without question. The truth is…truth. If you cannot accept the truth then you say the truth is a lie and that the truth cannot possibly be truth. You therefore manufacture your own version of the truth, even worse regurgitate someone else’s version of the truth. You now believe in nothing. You believe in nothing so much that, that nothing, becomes your truth. You become so enamored and seduced  with your version of the truth that the actual truth angers you. Because real truth, true truth, threatens your version of truth. It enrages you to the point that you call the truth a lie. You are blind to the truth and discussions of your truth become nothing more than sessions in you being right and everyone being wrong that disagrees with your truth.

The year is 2010…there is no more truth…