02/21/2012

You know what I was thinking yesterday – people mentioning OD having less traffic than it used to, and all.

I have only written FO entries here for a long time. I was getting creeped for a while. I think tons of people are only FO today because of privacy stuff.

Maybe we could all try to write more public entries? After all that’s the primary way you connect with people on OD. Maybe a new infusion of community is what we need?

(if you want to be added to friends, let me know)

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Well, the girl we offered the job to at work turned it down. Haha. You can’t make this stuff up.

I don’t understand it… she wasn’t very qualified and still could have gotten it. It would have been a big break for her. I guess maybe you’re more comfortable with what you know, and some people aren’t risk takers. Ah well. We have all been there.

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I think this whole Whitney Houston thing has really had a profound effect on me, it’s really told us something about ourselves, about America, about our culture, about where we are as a culture.

I mean, if it weren’t for her passing away then how the heck would we ever have known that Bobby Brown and New Edition are still selling concert tickets? Are you kidding me?

Nah, really though… obviously she had a lot of vocal talent. But… I don’t get it I suppose, addicts die every day. Some deaths are more culturally notable than others of course, but she was not a president, she didn’t invent something great or cure a disease or anything like that… she didn’t do a lot outside making some records in the 80s and a movie…

if anything it’s sad, it’s sad that someone went from so much youth and talent and beauty and promise to this life of her talent being ravaged by dope and being a tabloid headline all the time and sticking with this man who’s no good for her and having a child who now has her own addiction issues. To go from a special God-given talent like very few people have in a generation or a culture to overdosing in the tub, man. It’s a sad story.

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This is a great, almost pointform response to that “I hate religion but I love Jesus” video that was going around on youtube last month. It’s a long read but it’s worthwhile.

A couple of people asked me about it, and I just didn’t have time. As DeYoung says, Jesus wouldn’t be your go-to guy for disliking religion. He completed one.

I guess one thing I wish people understood is that the people who spend the most time talking about hating religion or hating when religious people “organize” are usually are the least familiar with what it is. (And, by the way, when you see people in the media talking about what evangelicals think or who they would vote for…the people talking usually are those who know the least about us. ha.)

If you look at what Jesus said, he told people in no uncertain terms to be an organized religion. He went to the synagogue, he affirmed the Jewish scriptures, he affirmed many points of law, he demanded people believe certain points of doctrine – prime among them that he was the only God. He wasn’t an inclusive, I’m ok/You’re ok type of teacher. He said if you love your son or daughter more than him you aren’t worthy of him. Jesus did not walk around asking people to express admiration for him, or say that he was a good teacher but that’s really all we need to know… he demanded radical devotion.

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Alright, since the national emergency of FMM not being on the front page has been solved, I can do a couple of them.

Post a song about God, or the deity of your choice

Post a song that instantly reminds you something that happened to you. Can be positive or negative. Tell the story.

This CD was in my CD player basically my whole last semester of college.

Post a song by the last musician/band you saw live

Well, it was to have been Joe B., here, but my mom’s brain surgery ended up being scheduled for the following morning so I was out of town.

As an aside, I have seen Clapton before, but I didn’t appreciate it back then… I hope I can see him again.

It was a huge arena show, but he was basically just wearing khakis and a white v-neck tshirt, playing guitar. Sitting on a stool up there by himself for a lot of the show. No fancy lights really, no acrobats, no fire-breathers, no costumes, no backup dancers, no wardrobe changes, no video screens showing crazy stuff. There was just plenty of real, raw genius.