Here are a couple of my favorite images from Easter weekend:
His team really loved him.
Here’s the other one:
Here’s what the band has to say about the cover of one of their singles:
In regard to the cover artwork, Singer/Songwriter Vince Lichlyter states: “Jesus became a criminal for us. There are a lot of people who can’t grasp that. But he was tried in court, convicted and sentenced. He just wasn’t guilty. We are. I believe that every man is a Dead Man Walking. You’re either fighting to become dead to the flesh or just flat out dead in the flesh. But the cover is always up for your own interpretation. I’m certain that people will have conflicting views. But that’s good. I enjoy causing people to think.”
The new EP includes an aggressive rock song entitled “Blood is Thicker” which is the first single! However, it also has a strong acoustic song entitled “Dead Man Walking” that is sure to cause you to pause and “think” about more than just yourself!
www.facebook.com/boleynrecords
www.facebook.com/saintmuserecords
I shared many laughs with my friend Levi Macallister when he was here interning. Since he left, however, it’s all been serious. No laughter. No kidding aside. No inside jokes. Nothing. I think he’s mad because I said his poetry was “depressing.” What a sensitive little Nazi! But I digress.
I like humor. I like Fletch. Sometimes it can get me in trouble, though.
Back to Levi. Oftentimes we would end a joke – usually a sarcastic one – by clenching up our face in a scowl or the best disapproving and stern look we could, and say, “But that’s not funny.”
It was a secret and funny jab to the self-righteous and uptight behavior we’ve seen. Being offended is a real drag. Being someone that is easily offended is a weakness. Taking offense is a choice. I can give you all kinds of reason to take offense at the words of this blog and the type of silly behavior I’ve described. I can cite truth – everlasting words of truth…but isn’t that a shame to misuse that to defend our personal little offense?
Sometimes we need someone to talk tough to us, to tell us to “Get over ourselves!”
I like that Joyce Meyer makes these kinds of statements a lot. She has pinpointed the “taking offense easily” as a real problem to avoid. When we take offense, we’re wasting time. Parents know well the old adage, “Choose your battles.” This applies to all areas of life – especially relationships. The things we say can act as “rub your nose in your mistake” kind of ugliness. They can also belittle and they can also beat down, offend and harm other people.
I have a friend that was offended by a pastor’s use of the word “hottie.” I think he mentioned that Bathsheba was a hottie. She related the word “hottie” to be very sexual in nature. She would carefully say, “beautiful” instead, because “hottie” had a sexual correlation and that would not be appropriate. I roll my eyes at that kind of behavior. It’s hard to correct. It’s hard to change. It’s probably not as hard to change as the pathetic and evil attitudes of racism that can be latched on to and felt for generations, but this kind of uptight behavior sucks.
And there’s another one. This same person probably doesn’t like to hear the phrase, “This sucks!” or “That sucks!”
My word to this friend is this:
You would be so better off if you just let a lot of things go. Let these potential offenses slide right off your back like water off a duck’s back. Don’t let it take root. Don’t let it bother you.
I know why you’re mad. I’ve heard it before: “‘Sucks’ is a reference to oral sex and that is offensive and inappropriate and whatnot.” Well, get over it. When kids or young adults or even older adults says, “That sucks!” they are not referencing oral sex. They are stating that something is lousy. Something stinks. It’s bad. Nobody is trying to recruit unmarried teenagers to indulge in a sinful act here. They’re just communicating with a common colloquialism. They’re just talking.
With less offense in your life, you can spend more time in gratitude. You’ll be happier. If you take offense at every little thing, you’re micro-managing your life and getting distracted by way too many things that don’t matter. I’ll go so far as to say that you’re being tricked by and being used by the devil or falling for one of his religious tricks.
Should a believer never ever cause waves? Never ever stand up for the Truth? That’s a dumb question. It goes back to wisdom and choosing your battles carefully. Some battles must be fought. Some conflict will come. Walking away from some conflicts or letting some things go and choosing not to be offended is simply going to improve and probably lengthen your life.
Another couple of stories just to belabor my point: Some people have long pointed to the phrase “rock and roll” as a telling attachment to the so-called “evils” of that genre of music. Apparently a radio DJ in Cleveland, Ohio, coined the phrase to describe this new genre of music that was becoming so popular in the ’50s. To “rock and roll” meant having premarital intercourse in the backseat of a car. Therefore, such a “disgusting, foul and obviously evil” form of music was birthed out of evil, rebellion and premarital sex. Therefore it is wrong.
It’s crazy how some people will play “guilty by association” and condemn something with an idiotic argument that probably sounds ironclad to the arguer at the time. Oh brother, do you really think that rock and roll is evil? I better get Chris Tomlin on the phone and let him know.
Back in Paul’s day there was a serious argument about meat being sacrificed to idols. Now, to us in the 21st century, this argument sounds crazy. But let me put some context to it that might help it be more believable – or at least explain the passion held by those fighting against it. Idols were empty inanimate objects, but they were used by demonic spirits. The people that sacrificed to false gods were actually sacrificing to demons. This is some serious stuff. No believer wants to get involved in the occult, in what God forbids. There is an enemy. His name is Satan and he does command or work with a lot of other fallen angels (though they are outnumbered two-to-one). This meat sacrificed to idols was a way for believers to actually invite Satan into their homes! I mean, the idols are demonic. The meat was laid before these idols and sacrificed to them, giving worship to demons. No good Christian would ever bring that kind of meat into their house, right?
Well, Paul basically finds a polite way to say, “Get over yourselves, people! It’s just meat! It is just meat. Don’t worry about it. But, if it still bothers you, don’t eat it.” And he basically tells both sides of the argument to chill out and not try to convert the other over to his or her conviction. He leaves it at: “if it offends you to eat meat sacrificed to idols, don’t do it. If you have no problem with eating meat sacrificed to idols, dig in! Just don’t lord it over your weaker brothers and sisters and cause them to stumble. Be sensitive to their convictions.
I guess in some circumstances we need to agree not to agree and then try to walk out our convictions without interfering with one another. This can be tricky. But it can be done. Do some homework. Look up the word “tact” in the dictionary and try to obtain some. You’d be wise to do so.
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