tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22882347882109717962024-03-12T08:44:55.465-04:00Filthy Rags & Dirty CupsThe ramblings of a self-professed, postmodern, existentialist christian mystic with a tendency to offend both sides of most every argument...
seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-43156332641352212292024-03-11T10:50:00.005-04:002024-03-11T11:09:52.979-04:00Pardon Me, Your Disdain for Biblical Context Is Showing<p><i></i></p><blockquote><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAdfEDSKttYk9-KJbjYHpuvUEG3pfai8KVBybHJjxAXI3Ec6JawyXN_h95eDz1LD2z9fFruld_cDxTAg2ca-OdDjZV5CJbv9bgqgx8gxV2EcnrJb1y8jzt6hdYd8X1WoXB3fphrDGl2e8xKwIbX7e7yFSwfzP-aq9huLnl-L51JDuObpQIJF4CBkJVvMZ/s639/bible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="426" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAdfEDSKttYk9-KJbjYHpuvUEG3pfai8KVBybHJjxAXI3Ec6JawyXN_h95eDz1LD2z9fFruld_cDxTAg2ca-OdDjZV5CJbv9bgqgx8gxV2EcnrJb1y8jzt6hdYd8X1WoXB3fphrDGl2e8xKwIbX7e7yFSwfzP-aq9huLnl-L51JDuObpQIJF4CBkJVvMZ/w426-h640/bible.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /> “Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours. They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end, they will be your rulers." Deuteronomy 28:43-44</i></blockquote><p></p><p>I'm seeing this more and more as a meme to indicate that foreigners should be unwelcome as if this passage has anything remotely to do with the idea of "illegal aliens." </p><p>Let's start with biblical context. Here's the whole passage (long but necessary):</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>Blessings for Obedience</i></p><p><i>28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:</i></p><p><i>3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.</i></p><p><i>4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.</i></p><p><i>5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.</i></p><p><i>6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.</i></p><p><i>7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.</i></p><p><i>8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.</i></p><p><i>9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.</i></p><p><i>12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.</i></p><p><b><i>Curses for Disobedience</i></b></p><p><i>15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:</i></p><p><i>16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.</i></p><p><i>17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.</i></p><p><i>18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.</i></p><p><i>19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.</i></p><p><i>20 The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.[a] 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. 24 The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.</i></p><p><i>25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.</i></p><p><i>30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad. 35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.</i></p><p><i>36 The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. 37 You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you.</i></p><p><i>38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. 42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.</i></p><p><i>43 The foreigners who reside among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 They will lend to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, but you will be the tail.</i></p><p><i>45 All these curses will come on you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, 48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.</i></p><p><i>49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.</i></p><p><i>53 Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. 56 The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter 57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.</i></p><p><i>58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. 63 Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.</i></p><p><i>64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. 68 The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>So... the context for the verse is a judgment from God akin to those outlined in the books of the prophets. It's a warning to follow God or face punishment. Part of that punishment will be political defeat and having strangers take over your power and leave you powerless. This is all God's doing, not the work of foreigners. The foreigners are only the tool used by God to punish the Jews for disobedience. </p><p>Therefore, using this verse to warn against foreigners and intimating that it is their nature and character to take over is not only bad biblical study, but it is also revealing your willingness to prooftext scripture in order to back up your political/cultural/sociological beliefs. So, to be fair, it's also bad Christianity. </p><p>If anything, it is a warning to obey God, not to fear foreigners. "The Lord will send on you curses..." (from bad crops to rape to theft to all kinds of things) In other words, fear God, not the foreigner. </p><p>Now, all this applies and matters only to those who believe in Christianity, so if you are not a believer, I'm well aware of the insider-ness of these arguments. But for those who do believe, the point is you need to do their homework better to understand what your references are actually saying. </p><p>Now... why God would include/allow things like rape and worshipping other gods as part of a punishment is another discussion altogether. ;) </p><p>#DoBetter #BeBetter</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32AbahG9LB7Gsw-vjSP0pt9sEG0bKfd10bc1no70kOBXF4upuzMEPAaGPXhRvfm8j1X_LqqgpNena4ZYbeMSf16UXf_w5exYZ_Ro3xqLfsLFZH0b5RLHjFy8JN9qnVA445GMTgdNvwcz2yPv4yvERI03Dfc6wvb9utjiCzsOsHgD0ZgK_CFtfh-vha0nt/s2992/miko-guziuk-JxzaDHkcOSo-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2244" data-original-width="2992" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32AbahG9LB7Gsw-vjSP0pt9sEG0bKfd10bc1no70kOBXF4upuzMEPAaGPXhRvfm8j1X_LqqgpNena4ZYbeMSf16UXf_w5exYZ_Ro3xqLfsLFZH0b5RLHjFy8JN9qnVA445GMTgdNvwcz2yPv4yvERI03Dfc6wvb9utjiCzsOsHgD0ZgK_CFtfh-vha0nt/w515-h386/miko-guziuk-JxzaDHkcOSo-unsplash.jpg" width="515" /></a></div>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-15727233058182855992024-03-07T16:47:00.002-05:002024-03-07T16:50:11.162-05:00Deconstruction and Orthodoxy<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><b>Shared this meme on Facebook earlier today and it let to a nice little conversation with a friend. This friend and I sit on differing sides of many theology issues now, but he's dear to me and crucial (whether he would want to embrace that or not) for my own strength to dig deeper into scripture and eventually deconstruct and end up in a Christian Progressivism. </b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><b><br /></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><b>Several of my friends online responded and shared their journeys. </b></i></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjriexp-Z7RKuiu2WbzrTLbRXY6R-AUUhzhfvt7h70BHkqFo-B0EgfxrIO32yK7QAjbyyUa4zYJsDvGHxbkMKrbRr2K21XmEUmGbkq4WRJMn6p5mohFaIfcGFxxEhswP_jVOpziKgMxsXrQxBg6oDaFgqPRxhjuDKOyW3XFl6ND8_ub2oGW9QeqYwpPWIth/s1306/155086559_10109622703881377_3976708348403426334_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-style: italic; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1306" data-original-width="843" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjriexp-Z7RKuiu2WbzrTLbRXY6R-AUUhzhfvt7h70BHkqFo-B0EgfxrIO32yK7QAjbyyUa4zYJsDvGHxbkMKrbRr2K21XmEUmGbkq4WRJMn6p5mohFaIfcGFxxEhswP_jVOpziKgMxsXrQxBg6oDaFgqPRxhjuDKOyW3XFl6ND8_ub2oGW9QeqYwpPWIth/w413-h640/155086559_10109622703881377_3976708348403426334_n.jpg" width="413" /></a></p><p><i>Friend: </i>What I find interesting in these comments however, is the way Paul's work is often ignored. We literally have a large portion of the NT written to church leaders who managed their churches in bad ways. This is nothing new. But I also believe much of the motivation behind deconstruction is also a wilful dismissal of Scripture people don't like because it doesn't fit within a contextual understanding of modern culture and appetites for what is considered "good". But that's a discussion for another day.</p><p><i>Me: </i>Can't argue with that much except to reframe that same idea on the other foot, so to speak. I think one of the things driving folks away from evangelicalism is the church's willful dismissal of Scripture that doesn't fit its American nationalist and capitalistic (read greed in many cases) and theologically conservative political understanding of modern American culture and appetites for what is considered "good." But, as you say, that's a discussion for another day.</p><p>For me, I find it easier to follow and understand the words of Paul best after I focus on having the character of Christ first and foremost. Let him who has ears to hear live the beatitudes and then find their character in the fruit of the Spirit.</p><p><i>Friend:</i><b> </b>I get that. And it's much better to exemplify the character of Christ when you are in community with people of all opinions, political persuasions, churched and unchurched alike. I teach Sunday School, I am reformed, and I am an inerrantist. But I also know my job is to love and serve people, and it is the Holy Spirit's job to convict people of sin. Not mine. I do not want to be held accountable to that. I'm am unqualified for that work, and happy to not have that burden put upon me.</p><p><i>Me:</i> Sadly, what I see in a lot (maybe most in my experience) is a homogenous opinion.</p><p><i><b>And then further down in the discussion...</b></i></p><p><i><b>Me: </b></i>I haven't deconstructed away from my faith, just away from a certain understanding and practice of it. The biggest issue with that is that most churches in my area aren't welcoming to people who don't follow that particular understanding, and believe them tantamount to heretics if their search through Scripture leads them toward a more Progressive understanding of faith.</p><p><i>Friend: </i>At what point are going to have a transparent discussion where "particular understandings" begin to stand in opposition to orthodoxy? Forget about disagreements on morality for a moment... we're talking about severe disagreements re: affirmation of the virgin birth, understanding of what is sin, effectiveness and experience of atonement, and the standard from which this is derived in Scripture. Because the minute you begin to accept that some Scripture is wrong or "in error" you've begun to lean on something outside of Scripture to become the benchmark of truth, either willingly or unwillingly. The essential idea of "progression" is change... and what is never answered is, in regards to Christianity, to the progressive, what is changing? Is it God? Is that the world is changing and the church needs to change along with it? I would love an explanation that fits within orthodoxy, rather than in direct opposition to it? Or maybe the idea of orthodoxy itself and the rejection of it is the catalyst to deconstruction? And if that's the case, then that just sounds like chaos to me... which is more a declaration of my own lack of imagination in this regard.</p><p><i>Me:</i> I prefer the term "mystery" to "chaos." 😉</p><p>And there are times when orthodoxy itself is locked into erroneous understandings of the scripture it looks to. Salem witch trials. Defending slavery. The time of the reformers who needed to be an affront to their contemporary orthodoxy in order to explore the mystery that would lead them to a more accurate/better/spirit-filled (choose your adjective) understanding and create a new orthodoxy.</p><p>When orthodoxy becomes locked in stone and cannot be challenged, it can become its own type of prison to the work of the Spirit. Who's to say the orthodoxy of Luther and Calvin is the same as the orthodoxy of the modern American church? There are certainly differences where they would be considered wrong for their more God-focused ideas on the irrevocable calling or unlosable salvation. Does that make modern churches that don't hold those tenets unorthodox or does that make the reformers unorthodox? Both look to Scripture to build their theology. Or that the orthodoxy espoused by Sproul and Ravi Zacharias are going to be the end-all, be-all orthodoxy of 100 years from now? Lots of things have changed the way we interpret Scripture, from culture to science to politics (English kings, most notoriously), and we will continue to do so.</p><p>I submit that one can hold Scripture up to scrutiny and being "God-breathed" but not be bound to current or even older or newer interpretations of it based on the work of the Spirit and the increasing knowledge we attain through science and life.</p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-68428899978037221392024-03-04T08:35:00.006-05:002024-03-04T08:39:39.331-05:00Music Fest<p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">My old bands, 22FIVE and Reign are now re-uploaded with fixed recordings on your favorite streaming music platforms. Take a listen:</span></p><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzmGqg_5WFxrsJeX50TjZwbat0Q-g3CA_27_OCYx9aUoPcFYAG5t3sfUl21RTCFmsNVvsp16sNzvnSVSB9YjYH4orHO4dSecGt_DfpI80iprLNn881Of16kgiCENogflE-LAtuWdqK80RFI_c2WUOStSjaasPvOtgSUT_5PBAHfdCaK2IrX1MskL1Fr3-/s1505/Screenshot%20(26).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1505" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzmGqg_5WFxrsJeX50TjZwbat0Q-g3CA_27_OCYx9aUoPcFYAG5t3sfUl21RTCFmsNVvsp16sNzvnSVSB9YjYH4orHO4dSecGt_DfpI80iprLNn881Of16kgiCENogflE-LAtuWdqK80RFI_c2WUOStSjaasPvOtgSUT_5PBAHfdCaK2IrX1MskL1Fr3-/s320/Screenshot%20(26).png" width="319" /></a></div><br /><b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">22FIVE:</span><br /></b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/22five/1719894122" target="_blank">Apple Music </a></span><div><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2mFRQB5DUOHv1MduEUmszE" target="_blank">Spotify</a></span><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://music.amazon.com/artists/B0CPKK61FV/22five" target="_blank">Amazon Music</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs39gpfKhu_VpNlQvnlAgDS9VASTOKAdofMS1RR4OcUsJEHcI4zPOGKOEk5iAsLwoqd3OjGCgZfEtiD7cT-Qinbpe1HyxoUNF51FlX4PfAip2NIsyVYTUb4Rck6IC6140Z4K3nqK9IBz4lhnKW-l3y3TuWwuFIPPd1zDy0Q5EHHdDV93p_Fvn5wt3pMVol/s4934/reign-retrospective.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4934" data-original-width="4934" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs39gpfKhu_VpNlQvnlAgDS9VASTOKAdofMS1RR4OcUsJEHcI4zPOGKOEk5iAsLwoqd3OjGCgZfEtiD7cT-Qinbpe1HyxoUNF51FlX4PfAip2NIsyVYTUb4Rck6IC6140Z4K3nqK9IBz4lhnKW-l3y3TuWwuFIPPd1zDy0Q5EHHdDV93p_Fvn5wt3pMVol/s320/reign-retrospective.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Reign: </span><br /></b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/retrospective-1988-1992/1720465310" target="_blank">Apple Music</a></span><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3AhcUr8E6Ymxv2gSc48rc6" target="_blank">Spotify</a></span><br /><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://music.amazon.com/albums/B0CPTFD9ZN" target="_blank">Amazon Music</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-87185971849565235962024-02-13T14:32:00.002-05:002024-02-13T14:32:17.158-05:00[Link] “He Gets Us” Is The Ultimate Evangelical Hypocrisy<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>by Keith Giles</i></div><p></p><p>Everyone’s talking about the HE GETS US Super Bowl ad that ran during last night’s big game.</p><p>While some Evangelical Christians complained about the ad for suggesting that Jesus would ever show love and compassion to Abortionists, Immigrants, Refugees and Gay people [the people they hate]…..</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLi7roud20zLmpwFrvbfGYCZ2GXLh5XJqepf7qLZhS2jojG16CcRJzaK7zDduhjQUw2vz3DNDowtvmS9tu2yVYzgbfnU2WPAobHfPdPna2WDVkfsnnKcBvlCA_qZXxFXbBGfz54UTh5rXXutPCtSYsI2Ok09pKRu5S8BJE932w0m2N_oJZCCuFepdqee7k/s768/Screenshot-2024-02-12-114146.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="768" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLi7roud20zLmpwFrvbfGYCZ2GXLh5XJqepf7qLZhS2jojG16CcRJzaK7zDduhjQUw2vz3DNDowtvmS9tu2yVYzgbfnU2WPAobHfPdPna2WDVkfsnnKcBvlCA_qZXxFXbBGfz54UTh5rXXutPCtSYsI2Ok09pKRu5S8BJE932w0m2N_oJZCCuFepdqee7k/w400-h233/Screenshot-2024-02-12-114146.png" width="400" /></a>...it’s the overwhelming lack of self-awareness from those who funded the ad which is the most staggering to me.</p><p>...</p><p>So, I guess the Christians who paid for this ad seem to think that Jesus is the one who needs a new marketing message. They think the reason so many young people are leaving the Evangelical Church in record numbers is because they don’t understand how awesome Jesus is.</p><p><b>What they seem to be oblivious to is the fact that all of those people are leaving the Evangelical Church because the Evangelical Church is nothing like Jesus.</b></p><p>Read the full article: <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/2024/02/he-gets-us-is-the-ultimate-evangelical-hypocrisy/" target="_blank">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/2024/02/he-gets-us-is-the-ultimate-evangelical-hypocrisy/</a></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-43806422786668843252024-02-12T09:04:00.000-05:002024-02-12T09:04:04.769-05:00Truth Cuts<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8fi-DL8aKX2uhg2MJf0kze8lbkUPKxqSJiLa5h-dEaNe38Am_idphTCcyALiTrzYF3YsOPjCz_FM6fRXlvcZdvMy165EJMLKyM7pbQSypkDEJuJ7O7_eu1yvEh-Yvw5X8QFeBFp1ZF3mme-6XLCHLTLCY_3a2sP2E3WesVi5DO9tz82u0Tx1_4efnWV8M/s960/426030534_10219234562174164_4573024016711383646_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="949" height="539" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8fi-DL8aKX2uhg2MJf0kze8lbkUPKxqSJiLa5h-dEaNe38Am_idphTCcyALiTrzYF3YsOPjCz_FM6fRXlvcZdvMy165EJMLKyM7pbQSypkDEJuJ7O7_eu1yvEh-Yvw5X8QFeBFp1ZF3mme-6XLCHLTLCY_3a2sP2E3WesVi5DO9tz82u0Tx1_4efnWV8M/w533-h539/426030534_10219234562174164_4573024016711383646_n.jpg" width="533" /></a></div><p></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-9499071237069357132024-01-27T12:00:00.330-05:002024-03-12T08:44:22.938-04:0050 Christian Albums for Even Deconstructing / Reconstructing / Recovering Fans of CCM<p>If you're looking for a lot of radio-friendly or praise and worship sing-alongs on this list, then you may want to look elsewhere. A lot of these albums were either too honest for Christian radio, too edgy for Adult-Contemporary, or just too weird for people to actually believe they were talking about faith in the first place. A rare few managed to slip through the cracks (like Nordeman or Out of the Gray) but their truly great stuff never saw airplay. </p><p>As such, it's likely that several (maybe most) of these will be unfamiliar to the fan of Christian radio who grew up on "safe for the whole family" staples like Steven Curtis Chapman, First Call, and Michael W. Smith or later P&W stalwarts like Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and David Crowder. </p><p>Note: My rules for this list. </p><p></p><blockquote><p>A. Only one album per band. In the case of alternates, I have included them in the listing as close seconds.</p><p>B. The album must be one that doesn't limit itself to "speaking platitudes to the church" or "preaching to the choir." It must show some understanding of being salt and light by being in the world as an equal, not standing apart from it to condemn it, shouting at it across the chasm to "get saved," or putting people off with churchy jargon.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>C. The album must show an artistic sense of understanding the human condition and what faith means to those who must live in the incarnation every day, fully human with all that means and fully a member of another world in Christ.</p></blockquote><p>So, here in no particular order is my absolutely opinionated list of 50 key albums that are still important and still viable for those believers who are in the process of re-evaluating their beliefs or even deconstructing them. </p><p>These are albums that still have a lot to say, even to those on the back side of a faith journey. </p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">1. Poor Old Lu -- Sin</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikSKk46FuXCJMS9YdA_iohKVsjNXc47Heqpu5l2T8SKeoKDauMsuA1UqE8eii9TCe2_zB383B6RKXZ-UOHcQ3Ny88pdEZx46AxVxaBwh1LCXR94Ia4lBQ2FYIg9WULN9O7_pn6TSFu_PbY3swn8ZJFLmcP3cvUU-vfO94QluaU2_3WBCmi7q39S2Pje1Ji/s225/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikSKk46FuXCJMS9YdA_iohKVsjNXc47Heqpu5l2T8SKeoKDauMsuA1UqE8eii9TCe2_zB383B6RKXZ-UOHcQ3Ny88pdEZx46AxVxaBwh1LCXR94Ia4lBQ2FYIg9WULN9O7_pn6TSFu_PbY3swn8ZJFLmcP3cvUU-vfO94QluaU2_3WBCmi7q39S2Pje1Ji/w320-h320/download.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">2. Walk on Water -- Walk on Water</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmsGkix2-6858D7BmnovWWVpr-1hT_6zQV3rQH8kst0yZ7J9IllyLIOfSjC29S7lstNm3z_xfMCuNXb3FAdYAR-kPeNYeV8Ef757hEQCajBW2qifFCPe4AqIg-heNTJZKUylP-z8XoGBAAybnDSQk6r7p-88uA_2cZA3pr5bYucUmpiY6XidYwbDFc88U/s187/download%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="187" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmsGkix2-6858D7BmnovWWVpr-1hT_6zQV3rQH8kst0yZ7J9IllyLIOfSjC29S7lstNm3z_xfMCuNXb3FAdYAR-kPeNYeV8Ef757hEQCajBW2qifFCPe4AqIg-heNTJZKUylP-z8XoGBAAybnDSQk6r7p-88uA_2cZA3pr5bYucUmpiY6XidYwbDFc88U/w320-h301/download%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">3. Chagall Guevara -- Chagall Guevara</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnMm_OeeXVbB6GOH6J-lMMzo5IzNBuu4rG6mW0nl5cMUGWy5I2FpwRmRhRsn72QcD3DZIunyzQE83x-g8DOlG3tRtab_kTzGO0dfrTEMrTr3aSpqnR2PZtpMUTorMLQhMqB5-is6dGREQPYWkDlXXMIVWk_k50qHayUbw8EuWWBjUGMIaPh5rFNREHYx9/s1000/61BRRkh+qoL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnMm_OeeXVbB6GOH6J-lMMzo5IzNBuu4rG6mW0nl5cMUGWy5I2FpwRmRhRsn72QcD3DZIunyzQE83x-g8DOlG3tRtab_kTzGO0dfrTEMrTr3aSpqnR2PZtpMUTorMLQhMqB5-is6dGREQPYWkDlXXMIVWk_k50qHayUbw8EuWWBjUGMIaPh5rFNREHYx9/s320/61BRRkh+qoL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">4. Leslie Phillips -- The Turning</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdqsPLdVuOsSGJhkmfJO3QGie_4zbsqEHjZoRVkocznahbkfjfq6D7hJSbXaeE2p9_KaXsiiTo1T84iP4vscVPLqP3SI4ysE10FgG0PXk3BnrOlSV88glxw1JLGxpeQpyZQAtpThupbWBr84pk7v015Sqkzxx88ae7dyuvHtNgsS8eqGxqcgL_hvhyphenhyphendqX/s1000/21VFDl-nriL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdqsPLdVuOsSGJhkmfJO3QGie_4zbsqEHjZoRVkocznahbkfjfq6D7hJSbXaeE2p9_KaXsiiTo1T84iP4vscVPLqP3SI4ysE10FgG0PXk3BnrOlSV88glxw1JLGxpeQpyZQAtpThupbWBr84pk7v015Sqkzxx88ae7dyuvHtNgsS8eqGxqcgL_hvhyphenhyphendqX/s320/21VFDl-nriL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">5. The Choir -- Chase the Kangaroo</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaHh3ovSd1vMexK6XMjEeroa0jZSCO5JgUzmNJ_QZZn-tPkg-7VC7Ek_tvlUIponyA8rqXVcbV5fD_0GGeIsGD4RKo3ysbog7RBfmB3cgyuBk-qWztoEjso1apJhrOkEbnXM_-XEYekz5HE77unPJfGqEGUjV4GLhjLvCYmJDFtvTdpJuAojjXnZYRHX9/s316/TheChoir-KangarooLP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="316" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJaHh3ovSd1vMexK6XMjEeroa0jZSCO5JgUzmNJ_QZZn-tPkg-7VC7Ek_tvlUIponyA8rqXVcbV5fD_0GGeIsGD4RKo3ysbog7RBfmB3cgyuBk-qWztoEjso1apJhrOkEbnXM_-XEYekz5HE77unPJfGqEGUjV4GLhjLvCYmJDFtvTdpJuAojjXnZYRHX9/s1600/TheChoir-KangarooLP.jpg" width="316" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">6. The Violet Burning -- Strength</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbe1wFM3N_P2pmw3iQBAWZcjwsq0GHis6sYqG4pTGf2J6BOC9Ehn7TVy_SfreeH7bn6zmFogwwOtyCp9JTrKfbnEUUC4Ylm4uKaH9CIzvIMSMtXkbSkTzXcmv0lmVoSsfrTia6nHDycj6OuOMCV_ewDtifW5tTzFZMMo6QuN7-RVyYlFw_3SXHDtuU2fea/s225/download%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbe1wFM3N_P2pmw3iQBAWZcjwsq0GHis6sYqG4pTGf2J6BOC9Ehn7TVy_SfreeH7bn6zmFogwwOtyCp9JTrKfbnEUUC4Ylm4uKaH9CIzvIMSMtXkbSkTzXcmv0lmVoSsfrTia6nHDycj6OuOMCV_ewDtifW5tTzFZMMo6QuN7-RVyYlFw_3SXHDtuU2fea/w320-h320/download%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">7. Daniel Amos -- Darn Floor-Big Bite </h3><i>(though either Fearful Symmetry or Horrendous Disk could be in this spot)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgop-RBw80G8t4Uus7YRYetwULRNNHmIirYmFcvYy50Z9rPjpcmbhqFmb51FYF9_ImGBsXzjwCG8H_qRJZ58unPQbp4Y2i59l_y0fiODKj_k13z7wftrBijGSii74WdCIyWp7mTPAVSxjlY0NvMC-rHo03686Oyg1nBlSi1PkAY6m6pIUOCI7BNsNg01pyx/s226/download%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="226" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgop-RBw80G8t4Uus7YRYetwULRNNHmIirYmFcvYy50Z9rPjpcmbhqFmb51FYF9_ImGBsXzjwCG8H_qRJZ58unPQbp4Y2i59l_y0fiODKj_k13z7wftrBijGSii74WdCIyWp7mTPAVSxjlY0NvMC-rHo03686Oyg1nBlSi1PkAY6m6pIUOCI7BNsNg01pyx/w320-h316/download%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">8. Mortal -- Pura</h3><i>(Fathom is also amazing and depending on the day and time often replaces Pura in this list.)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfniSFl52ybDAnKK8wd5YdqVxn0ES6A5hzBSeyhcLyaNWSwq8Q4Dx45kFY6wIaL_eTT5FVkAIzcBlaPC6DQxm5YCTuPFEgjolwF1ydsml1EnNoK0-J1awU-m6vk2tmHYYhUwxnB2lqs4bzfnP_5SJg7gva9XKlVwDH8dVa9vfwqeaqyzmMN17m5aTDIVqw/s300/Pura_(Mortal_album_-_cover_art).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfniSFl52ybDAnKK8wd5YdqVxn0ES6A5hzBSeyhcLyaNWSwq8Q4Dx45kFY6wIaL_eTT5FVkAIzcBlaPC6DQxm5YCTuPFEgjolwF1ydsml1EnNoK0-J1awU-m6vk2tmHYYhUwxnB2lqs4bzfnP_5SJg7gva9XKlVwDH8dVa9vfwqeaqyzmMN17m5aTDIVqw/s1600/Pura_(Mortal_album_-_cover_art).jpg" width="300" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">9. Steve Taylor -- I Predict 1990 </h3><i>(though either Liver or Squint could be in this spot as well)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IEpKrFn9koVcLqtsp-dTiA2Um5Qk4wfxZSI2k9iISMbTxDmCGMwQ7XNN5eIpJ_jWrNuooPGU8GilEfGEm0joixg-0WG5hkkg_IbYhjdGPAHSni-zPIVeP3uoXPHQuDwhAPfOU344F2kCk7r4tqHjPZMbb1rCtUMoxYyKmUvQ0QIp6_oKqecTSDtfzRRc/s1000/41BN5QQzBJL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IEpKrFn9koVcLqtsp-dTiA2Um5Qk4wfxZSI2k9iISMbTxDmCGMwQ7XNN5eIpJ_jWrNuooPGU8GilEfGEm0joixg-0WG5hkkg_IbYhjdGPAHSni-zPIVeP3uoXPHQuDwhAPfOU344F2kCk7r4tqHjPZMbb1rCtUMoxYyKmUvQ0QIp6_oKqecTSDtfzRRc/s320/41BN5QQzBJL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">10. 77s -- The 77s </h3>(Drowning with the Land in Sight could be here as well)<p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHZdS10Oar2TpE8vzzzOxZ4OTQMhjz7Bgx8na_4oJc6RG0xyESEChtbJK22JVUjTgDlotfM5JcGkTtUllBvAJuAVLYUl1jg8V_XZygIBO2tf1NoPr4uVxl4ygGZDgyo__PW59Sf35zf8UjyoB0qhU1c6zStPs4pxjhEq6y_VAV2KVMGAUVk7U4utYqhZC/s200/The77salbum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHZdS10Oar2TpE8vzzzOxZ4OTQMhjz7Bgx8na_4oJc6RG0xyESEChtbJK22JVUjTgDlotfM5JcGkTtUllBvAJuAVLYUl1jg8V_XZygIBO2tf1NoPr4uVxl4ygGZDgyo__PW59Sf35zf8UjyoB0qhU1c6zStPs4pxjhEq6y_VAV2KVMGAUVk7U4utYqhZC/w320-h320/The77salbum.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">11. The Waiting -- Blue Belly Sky</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqJcyeVR3gJPjAHqUCQQOScINRMnmWNOzsxCz-XwORm2N-LPZ9ZZIVrfKbjtwYBXbNETmUKAruqmgekNDhPOCObhqip4_YxN61_v7VQnaHRyeQU5tEtrgFURyZ51jvxKrsRAF8cRAcx1-XrX7gPOg6w1uTY-aFxLQgkBTmC-QrZI-kjNN2IdXSmcVnGin/s1000/waiting.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMqJcyeVR3gJPjAHqUCQQOScINRMnmWNOzsxCz-XwORm2N-LPZ9ZZIVrfKbjtwYBXbNETmUKAruqmgekNDhPOCObhqip4_YxN61_v7VQnaHRyeQU5tEtrgFURyZ51jvxKrsRAF8cRAcx1-XrX7gPOg6w1uTY-aFxLQgkBTmC-QrZI-kjNN2IdXSmcVnGin/s320/waiting.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">12. Jacob's Trouble -- Jacob's Trouble</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhymzdx0inOh2iZ3pihyYT5Uzp7q4mVmNo6-WUGC0JSH_yzesnLJP6zhIj7Rl2p5iRje9yXAmj6K-xqpe7-8_4kGJRKjbIVpXGJDZVujY1qkNSUF760mdTN0yQxUHYvn7lV-ZFyo88OLIijYQgsgiPFljsgbaZqu0Q74VPpFQw5k89GTEua368CdAn3f9JF/s1000/51ud5brsvqL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhymzdx0inOh2iZ3pihyYT5Uzp7q4mVmNo6-WUGC0JSH_yzesnLJP6zhIj7Rl2p5iRje9yXAmj6K-xqpe7-8_4kGJRKjbIVpXGJDZVujY1qkNSUF760mdTN0yQxUHYvn7lV-ZFyo88OLIijYQgsgiPFljsgbaZqu0Q74VPpFQw5k89GTEua368CdAn3f9JF/s320/51ud5brsvqL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">13. Whiteheart -- Freedom</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GmDKEj3uIkDBWfi0x7GZ9Da5hbst7s_kLpY1zutqyN8b4YJJpoIYhCRyojeGoL4f8Vx08UMJAMcPjzXFAEEurhB5Nlgnw4AHJp2I3by3ImfCK5ljqDm47FaS8k_Z1TX7KY3ISvag8zxYLKCApgLJ4C7VxpptXMLP0chRhNNzCk7Mc4_PjZAgHmbQQka7/s600/4071400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GmDKEj3uIkDBWfi0x7GZ9Da5hbst7s_kLpY1zutqyN8b4YJJpoIYhCRyojeGoL4f8Vx08UMJAMcPjzXFAEEurhB5Nlgnw4AHJp2I3by3ImfCK5ljqDm47FaS8k_Z1TX7KY3ISvag8zxYLKCApgLJ4C7VxpptXMLP0chRhNNzCk7Mc4_PjZAgHmbQQka7/s320/4071400.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">14. Jars of Clay -- Jars of Clay</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQF3WcjoCdfaVbuslnv_Xeu5luYh60d2gkGJl6t9T1D-xg12RUkNt9hNZ_1mgE8B63PJ0wh7KT1EfyNn2UlM0MNWUxYauP4JQZ1r-mAp0sjC4HrQYjum9in7DMPExucxmfA5hfaUFucOTKbc8aGUY_RxHbZ1NRisu7P0kwaIPBEUAGRKv0ech4I6VeMO8/s1000/81swr47qIpL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="991" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQF3WcjoCdfaVbuslnv_Xeu5luYh60d2gkGJl6t9T1D-xg12RUkNt9hNZ_1mgE8B63PJ0wh7KT1EfyNn2UlM0MNWUxYauP4JQZ1r-mAp0sjC4HrQYjum9in7DMPExucxmfA5hfaUFucOTKbc8aGUY_RxHbZ1NRisu7P0kwaIPBEUAGRKv0ech4I6VeMO8/s320/81swr47qIpL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="317" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">15. Adam Again -- Homeboys </h3>(as good as Dig is, this one edges it out for me)<p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFOwd0jFHz7qgru9XO6G9f6XjxSj00iol3N4I0SppXQ41uf3cv1dyz7cksAc5kfdfg2CWi8rXJVe8gLyonp1K_70-NHBXEnyaxNT_l6_i8_tGVuZKV9ie7myBzJa7PeHAUbAyVH8dOJFMA90df9SnIt-nedc1a-8MOHVkrA2B-xnLNUv4aBES60WiHrd5/s225/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="225" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJFOwd0jFHz7qgru9XO6G9f6XjxSj00iol3N4I0SppXQ41uf3cv1dyz7cksAc5kfdfg2CWi8rXJVe8gLyonp1K_70-NHBXEnyaxNT_l6_i8_tGVuZKV9ie7myBzJa7PeHAUbAyVH8dOJFMA90df9SnIt-nedc1a-8MOHVkrA2B-xnLNUv4aBES60WiHrd5/w320-h319/download.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">16. Kosmos Express -- Simulcast</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqW5eyt5ZNKkc68GEHFT_lRbMkVqE-V4YNUQ5Dtu4TfKY6sVVfXyEqRvWR1g5L6w-pyGb3wdhdJpWhwzOvO4vmyBw3PE0jw-dwH3YwCNHo0F5uwXENCba8MkaE71AYIwhnx1qXsZtX_Lb0rUZyx2bcbJKZ3lYZATSJhGufvD6dF_Ar7RORel6Gt7W-EVq5/s1000/51fAqmkR+GL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="1000" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqW5eyt5ZNKkc68GEHFT_lRbMkVqE-V4YNUQ5Dtu4TfKY6sVVfXyEqRvWR1g5L6w-pyGb3wdhdJpWhwzOvO4vmyBw3PE0jw-dwH3YwCNHo0F5uwXENCba8MkaE71AYIwhnx1qXsZtX_Lb0rUZyx2bcbJKZ3lYZATSJhGufvD6dF_Ar7RORel6Gt7W-EVq5/s320/51fAqmkR+GL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">17. Aleixa -- Honey Lake</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhT8FDAgGtIhJ4OHVyhUtRj0lMLGNuJDBjZrWrblW3uVWjVXtuy7QORWyv7jkGNfFAOlJ1_6oS2fx9jFt56sE29E4eEHqcj_EXWdmcfG1pdnQQaer4P8J_DZtl7xqE5SF-zVEkFj1Wm8aUunTI6_4AmO4QrnAHNavaJWrysM2wpTB2TwUM4xuy7dj0Otq/s225/download%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhT8FDAgGtIhJ4OHVyhUtRj0lMLGNuJDBjZrWrblW3uVWjVXtuy7QORWyv7jkGNfFAOlJ1_6oS2fx9jFt56sE29E4eEHqcj_EXWdmcfG1pdnQQaer4P8J_DZtl7xqE5SF-zVEkFj1Wm8aUunTI6_4AmO4QrnAHNavaJWrysM2wpTB2TwUM4xuy7dj0Otq/w320-h320/download%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">18. Say-So -- Say-So</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag0NltjSL83VhDOe5-ovAQ98V8EpgwdSUjtnctyAwNO0EGugxBjqiqn-qMnHYDnB-4i3vPAZlbdpzIZIKhwGacd3V28GcMfdhIcWQcWdBmp6FA1ukHFQrUvG1R6DRKUj9cgAZZ22gvOObZg5ddTeDEFPUxf1jUJjswNoM0-K0Vdng5sQcXt4neRSCvpGh/s2885/IMG_20240125_172549~2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2740" data-original-width="2885" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjag0NltjSL83VhDOe5-ovAQ98V8EpgwdSUjtnctyAwNO0EGugxBjqiqn-qMnHYDnB-4i3vPAZlbdpzIZIKhwGacd3V28GcMfdhIcWQcWdBmp6FA1ukHFQrUvG1R6DRKUj9cgAZZ22gvOObZg5ddTeDEFPUxf1jUJjswNoM0-K0Vdng5sQcXt4neRSCvpGh/s320/IMG_20240125_172549~2.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">19. Black-Eyed Sceva -- 5 Years, 50,000 Miles</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGkS7nrhMLAO8jVLB16o07BRc6hejhrNd-hbuPoOKDpzgilPe9uI1qtLB5zSwyjj4J1z2gfjSFLa97lTrawZbELbdKDEQ56RQWXs7yEoxvxblxNOsqQLY2cA8aKhAytv9Y2_jbN3bLq118UAl3NMzyLZfjJsDyzy0x6Sxo4P1gkVgy2V9mwgpw-hQ_P2j/s1000/61U+lv2P6RL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="990" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGkS7nrhMLAO8jVLB16o07BRc6hejhrNd-hbuPoOKDpzgilPe9uI1qtLB5zSwyjj4J1z2gfjSFLa97lTrawZbELbdKDEQ56RQWXs7yEoxvxblxNOsqQLY2cA8aKhAytv9Y2_jbN3bLq118UAl3NMzyLZfjJsDyzy0x6Sxo4P1gkVgy2V9mwgpw-hQ_P2j/s320/61U+lv2P6RL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="317" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">20. Ideola -- Tribal Opera</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwT44cbezXSt0P8QrY5vLyCByAdObzJZrp-VwtsVUEXnebBdHJjZuQB-y_IczWAfCj2Y0xNeAdtLMqsOWJHBj5yT8WcOBI8ywD45s2XogDI42o_9YMNam4HtIInm9MRccnAA8nhM3lTDMkJT9wFJjef-nm08r9lz_sKsGuUxrunJHnLH3tqRJmyoazSkT/s225/download%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="225" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwT44cbezXSt0P8QrY5vLyCByAdObzJZrp-VwtsVUEXnebBdHJjZuQB-y_IczWAfCj2Y0xNeAdtLMqsOWJHBj5yT8WcOBI8ywD45s2XogDI42o_9YMNam4HtIInm9MRccnAA8nhM3lTDMkJT9wFJjef-nm08r9lz_sKsGuUxrunJHnLH3tqRJmyoazSkT/w320-h319/download%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">21. Tonio K -- Romeo Unchained </h3><i>(though Notes from the Lost Civilization is really, really good, nothing beats Romeo Unchained)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6yu8KR9b33pPDwGH55MGLEesQjpgUzTwZoElcrh4QpJYRUKL70BVhhKN8LNjyWmU4-x-GCU5fg1xJs3OfZoV6TeOdqkRdrkzvH00FDFEWRUBfF2dsEdO04CbxDhbFFMFYx13EseUgIl38JvhCsLo4rktGXQfXu6cTfK3rt4j6y-50cMelxJSfGLpPpEX/s1000/51ZpU9kVsfL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1000" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6yu8KR9b33pPDwGH55MGLEesQjpgUzTwZoElcrh4QpJYRUKL70BVhhKN8LNjyWmU4-x-GCU5fg1xJs3OfZoV6TeOdqkRdrkzvH00FDFEWRUBfF2dsEdO04CbxDhbFFMFYx13EseUgIl38JvhCsLo4rktGXQfXu6cTfK3rt4j6y-50cMelxJSfGLpPpEX/s320/51ZpU9kVsfL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">22. Plankeye -- The Spark</h3><i>(Commonwealth is close, but The Spark is so much more raw so it takes the spot.)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxBGddsHcqFRywf4JiWddwqnxaHB4A9alH_y8IszZY8rZxqEWBDBCGT2omdvJS8nSfsffgzZdozm5kAzUJXTg-BLCOnaqQ4qc2ESLPIl0tojgzf8TfPXNdo4QPiPT2_FS-zdZlPmyWIFdL3lEY5J3nX88288nqQ-qnulz5EOE8ByOQ4-T5lUjTu_bNevR/s1000/51wJugsAT+L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="978" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxBGddsHcqFRywf4JiWddwqnxaHB4A9alH_y8IszZY8rZxqEWBDBCGT2omdvJS8nSfsffgzZdozm5kAzUJXTg-BLCOnaqQ4qc2ESLPIl0tojgzf8TfPXNdo4QPiPT2_FS-zdZlPmyWIFdL3lEY5J3nX88288nqQ-qnulz5EOE8ByOQ4-T5lUjTu_bNevR/s320/51wJugsAT+L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="313" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">23. D.A.S. -- Devils Angels Saints</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0OjSesKTAcITNrknUZ7u8KzlG2FHx_VCmFudzcO8ZgKBaA8fw-5lguNvavjDW0WaFcvImAHgzWeOUSJFjj6RXCO6hoSSvoeIsuNtcVAdEoaPBrdkBE-3HnUZ6wpzgksFyNVkIfbTJCB-vEsrHmzfxkUxjcFnbZL5m0EXcx0A-ehM_8NSTIw5RMMGLEV3/s225/download%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0OjSesKTAcITNrknUZ7u8KzlG2FHx_VCmFudzcO8ZgKBaA8fw-5lguNvavjDW0WaFcvImAHgzWeOUSJFjj6RXCO6hoSSvoeIsuNtcVAdEoaPBrdkBE-3HnUZ6wpzgksFyNVkIfbTJCB-vEsrHmzfxkUxjcFnbZL5m0EXcx0A-ehM_8NSTIw5RMMGLEV3/w320-h320/download%20(3).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">24. Phil Keaggy -- Sunday's Child </h3><i>(it's Beatles-tastic!)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tlO0FB3IL61IoaW0ROyihYHwubu_NNkUR-aUrI2eTm6Ximde6IpLZD-jUxwXkEuD6yoVyCXblAsYOxg40RHcYD2u7J2MkIC5iM6h3VpkG6yJhjQTNrpsVYgZ-1Xgy3fEpmHhz6E-ZYhJGI9ay_aeyd_40gDcoiwlerGulbVDmF7f08aaKYuhmmk0oA2v/s700/a3097380065_65.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tlO0FB3IL61IoaW0ROyihYHwubu_NNkUR-aUrI2eTm6Ximde6IpLZD-jUxwXkEuD6yoVyCXblAsYOxg40RHcYD2u7J2MkIC5iM6h3VpkG6yJhjQTNrpsVYgZ-1Xgy3fEpmHhz6E-ZYhJGI9ay_aeyd_40gDcoiwlerGulbVDmF7f08aaKYuhmmk0oA2v/s320/a3097380065_65.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">25. PFR -- Goldy's Last Day </h3>(as great as their debut it, this one's their magnum opus)<p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3_OFOsRa11-pzR3mC3L-4cRoOvN5Ifish7_oKWsKpOJO3jviSVlaZdXkTSbUUCjS5_0xWxk9ilkaCjaHuna3XE5AuA6mQjq9GjcZuNW0KPFKp6UB32FQTZ4kVMS_3IxlMLmfswO-PA36E3xcLTjuvsgUro-LdKiR3LqyY44Ml83lBAP0hta5H_99p_o-/s1000/51l3LH8UvKL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="988" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3_OFOsRa11-pzR3mC3L-4cRoOvN5Ifish7_oKWsKpOJO3jviSVlaZdXkTSbUUCjS5_0xWxk9ilkaCjaHuna3XE5AuA6mQjq9GjcZuNW0KPFKp6UB32FQTZ4kVMS_3IxlMLmfswO-PA36E3xcLTjuvsgUro-LdKiR3LqyY44Ml83lBAP0hta5H_99p_o-/s320/51l3LH8UvKL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="316" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">26. The Swirling Eddies -- Outdoor Elvis</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvq0N_hBBVNq0V8XgfpEQ7t4rboomnIMn2vGNHpVnl-PQ_sMEKXxboAzPmNXrP6ZWaYMHdH0L6Iz150zyZu8EI7J-8kvmJcKUJ5ga0xHDb1wZ-YvGWfQT8O6xoLRNNo686otVBSq6pOn_LBAajpAriPszR31DwJtwx0A5Wtvh8TOV5bOmMWWrzfLwQK80/s1000/swirl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1000" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvq0N_hBBVNq0V8XgfpEQ7t4rboomnIMn2vGNHpVnl-PQ_sMEKXxboAzPmNXrP6ZWaYMHdH0L6Iz150zyZu8EI7J-8kvmJcKUJ5ga0xHDb1wZ-YvGWfQT8O6xoLRNNo686otVBSq6pOn_LBAajpAriPszR31DwJtwx0A5Wtvh8TOV5bOmMWWrzfLwQK80/s320/swirl.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">27. Out of the Gray -- Out of the Gray </h3><i>(they never got better than this one, Tommy Sims on bass made this album, hands down)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEljn9fe_HNB1G1WttyPga2fdQDIcldjY7jN7JrrgohDmIyzLdZX-mi4gyDy8sAmk-JkM0mvijV5HNAudqfas0_oR7O-McCav2ekxRGg7RVEYRepLd3ZI-NzPbOLQJXgzhhmTBIsJiYQbGlZOgZQwGxxq8DJVLVFMDdKpEIFk9V460UtrajEyw8CscSEc/s300/Out_of_the_Grey_Album_Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="300" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEljn9fe_HNB1G1WttyPga2fdQDIcldjY7jN7JrrgohDmIyzLdZX-mi4gyDy8sAmk-JkM0mvijV5HNAudqfas0_oR7O-McCav2ekxRGg7RVEYRepLd3ZI-NzPbOLQJXgzhhmTBIsJiYQbGlZOgZQwGxxq8DJVLVFMDdKpEIFk9V460UtrajEyw8CscSEc/w320-h315/Out_of_the_Grey_Album_Cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">28. Carolyn Arends -- Seize the Day and Other Stories </h3><i>(this was the story of my faith in my early 20s)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg4ekFnQWUE2rEmMXgYztVjj_BsbzmQHLaSXd98N-5CTIsfApzh4PK5VD8Nz7MElawAkoMxAbxjmLJ1_FtcK0VZjJWOygd-3mffXNkPzkHh8wW9zqAsZmJpn29BK-gl1g2v6j9b7-DvLp0tg79t5xcH-ZOGbzjvd0mvlCQEdDLK2lDS4izvqdEAfjsXVN0/s1000/81v6R8UQCKL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg4ekFnQWUE2rEmMXgYztVjj_BsbzmQHLaSXd98N-5CTIsfApzh4PK5VD8Nz7MElawAkoMxAbxjmLJ1_FtcK0VZjJWOygd-3mffXNkPzkHh8wW9zqAsZmJpn29BK-gl1g2v6j9b7-DvLp0tg79t5xcH-ZOGbzjvd0mvlCQEdDLK2lDS4izvqdEAfjsXVN0/s320/81v6R8UQCKL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">29. Vince Ebo -- Love Is the Better Way</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizL5xp5hCtddStLtDIhnPSqJc3XysgEsek40SkNxwRV6i36Ihr1fsqUKqJbdRwGPg3prx1N97dyCps0Agt6pvYhIAJQsrHYuasFJpgn55eTrZFC_5Ms526TPGz6RbsnJUaOjDQ2Pf96PyEayPDy4llbRXmrw9-3xYMAb6eyub9K6RTHex5A8argkjoKN96/s1000/61YueJWbA-L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizL5xp5hCtddStLtDIhnPSqJc3XysgEsek40SkNxwRV6i36Ihr1fsqUKqJbdRwGPg3prx1N97dyCps0Agt6pvYhIAJQsrHYuasFJpgn55eTrZFC_5Ms526TPGz6RbsnJUaOjDQ2Pf96PyEayPDy4llbRXmrw9-3xYMAb6eyub9K6RTHex5A8argkjoKN96/s320/61YueJWbA-L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">30. Nichole Nordeman -- Wide-Eyed </h3><i>(the most honest questions I'd ever heard in CCM)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgfbtHy9PmGN6z1bHwzog3rybqo2QgY8X87lLL1p_-QRlREkEjQfSxKr0WDERVeEY80lDwdt2BtstLa2fLDq3CdAW6FnR51WRfYXmk4Jfvc2O8NzJg3njUTrHCFNbtI3y8_l3Zxd78QWQe55HSDPBkR0oQJtkwdoGGaUh3UVao9XkrHsyPNfBWfF7EQR6/s1200/1200x1200bf-60.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgfbtHy9PmGN6z1bHwzog3rybqo2QgY8X87lLL1p_-QRlREkEjQfSxKr0WDERVeEY80lDwdt2BtstLa2fLDq3CdAW6FnR51WRfYXmk4Jfvc2O8NzJg3njUTrHCFNbtI3y8_l3Zxd78QWQe55HSDPBkR0oQJtkwdoGGaUh3UVao9XkrHsyPNfBWfF7EQR6/s320/1200x1200bf-60.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">31. Brent Bourgeois -- Come Join the Living World</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzp0o8MjXto4lHGkTnLG2Vy4f3O78Oh4R6K-mBoeR4HL-OSqJPNBOFucSPV6N90DCAhGaL1krjo-erAH8z_VI3CFAQmuO8Ybu_7O6CEFwIjEiGgxg8TMX2sZ0QSzSD4Cq64v6DNA2RGPT80g1PfDtvr9eH6YHpAhvSjO3ZwXNM6Ev-NojaoK-8d6zMlb_/s1000/51+-JLFlrNL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzp0o8MjXto4lHGkTnLG2Vy4f3O78Oh4R6K-mBoeR4HL-OSqJPNBOFucSPV6N90DCAhGaL1krjo-erAH8z_VI3CFAQmuO8Ybu_7O6CEFwIjEiGgxg8TMX2sZ0QSzSD4Cq64v6DNA2RGPT80g1PfDtvr9eH6YHpAhvSjO3ZwXNM6Ev-NojaoK-8d6zMlb_/s320/51+-JLFlrNL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">32. Mark Heard -- Satellite Sky</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9mdJJGaQHsIOgWKAQm8je1UT7dIJqyVaVvgovbI2guHxxJOFhiqYmMmpK9xjBYUC7BPl2DSx98ve3ETeTNxyLWI_ScJ24qGnXm9dIThRBal0pkJTHLz1-6NZcpO3svHsP-ihNCCmyLG7kSxvh_kP8YtPFQIsGiyZMtvP8wmC0ODJ4Wmftlre9b1ZUlNg/s1000/61p-teRrVRL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1000" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9mdJJGaQHsIOgWKAQm8je1UT7dIJqyVaVvgovbI2guHxxJOFhiqYmMmpK9xjBYUC7BPl2DSx98ve3ETeTNxyLWI_ScJ24qGnXm9dIThRBal0pkJTHLz1-6NZcpO3svHsP-ihNCCmyLG7kSxvh_kP8YtPFQIsGiyZMtvP8wmC0ODJ4Wmftlre9b1ZUlNg/s320/61p-teRrVRL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">33. Jan Krist -- Decapitated Society</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUBtJ1epFnzHzHo0pycfr4KEhbeQBZBqHb0CjICJjRQlLp9mVwDQrVhiYMPu58-XFaJJS4E2ALdIgkpbkADp3VjiZdfuHVGYBP64UYB0GGpwnEu7xbfaOyGEVrXaYyVn5SnBS3GPEZHKiP9VfoB2LOogEtG3A8Zg3KalcZlSwlK5GZmfV30miiejbXA7A/s1000/61HYLqrmpmL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="996" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUBtJ1epFnzHzHo0pycfr4KEhbeQBZBqHb0CjICJjRQlLp9mVwDQrVhiYMPu58-XFaJJS4E2ALdIgkpbkADp3VjiZdfuHVGYBP64UYB0GGpwnEu7xbfaOyGEVrXaYyVn5SnBS3GPEZHKiP9VfoB2LOogEtG3A8Zg3KalcZlSwlK5GZmfV30miiejbXA7A/s320/61HYLqrmpmL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="319" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">34. Phil and John -- Carnival of Clowns</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwivO1EUIEsYbKh2YAlLyCpV1yDej-ls2UhFTH3emV8k5horFunKM4I5iLiFXXyJoKbr1vQS2a9x8wYef9rwfWDAFr6QtVT4lVG6RbmakcpJevn04nCr_AlJ476HD7-pzTeiJ-jLiNZrI-YRO_yx8RGzzqrLAO7sHdBwnHPKsb9jlle1LLi7pxp5RqeKul/s226/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="226" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwivO1EUIEsYbKh2YAlLyCpV1yDej-ls2UhFTH3emV8k5horFunKM4I5iLiFXXyJoKbr1vQS2a9x8wYef9rwfWDAFr6QtVT4lVG6RbmakcpJevn04nCr_AlJ476HD7-pzTeiJ-jLiNZrI-YRO_yx8RGzzqrLAO7sHdBwnHPKsb9jlle1LLi7pxp5RqeKul/w320-h316/download.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">35. Derek Webb -- Mockingbird </h3><i>(the world needs more like Derek, a lot more)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWKHJwq97EnKk0E-pJ5DfQgOjVTNLjKFaxYwCULmd2KPTFvK3pIQIi1nfMRcl2Q-hDBtfta69M5vFYxJxAfuCy1R2dC8G785LqX370qA2rEsYgcTX9Bw9NwRIy2gbnp2BjqVniKh4tDWSBW2IHdDlcpA5B6FYgGgl1Oi_RpyKClI_lPxMg_FsQvE_J1Dg/s1000/71HrpnO0RuL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1000" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWKHJwq97EnKk0E-pJ5DfQgOjVTNLjKFaxYwCULmd2KPTFvK3pIQIi1nfMRcl2Q-hDBtfta69M5vFYxJxAfuCy1R2dC8G785LqX370qA2rEsYgcTX9Bw9NwRIy2gbnp2BjqVniKh4tDWSBW2IHdDlcpA5B6FYgGgl1Oi_RpyKClI_lPxMg_FsQvE_J1Dg/s320/71HrpnO0RuL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">36. Rich Mullins -- The World As Best As I Can Remember It </h3><i>(so many great Rich Mullins albums, so much honesty in his songs; still this one is the one that made me fall in love with his earnestness and humility)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg14YuWDXrbTcOaxJIWwtnIln53oTCH7oF4kSA0ItrvkBbrMumIcDXmaLgayBIxmWx0JGV5vLz0yNrdFe5vKY6F2oIrKjttBc4s7Q4M_3rdXdf1WtMFu6OTSx501sLlNqd-4c8ARmuHu3l6kWLjbtvB4dajnPryJri1biiz6gEO6I0JWZuEfBN5MSfkIwa5/s300/TheWorldPartOne.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg14YuWDXrbTcOaxJIWwtnIln53oTCH7oF4kSA0ItrvkBbrMumIcDXmaLgayBIxmWx0JGV5vLz0yNrdFe5vKY6F2oIrKjttBc4s7Q4M_3rdXdf1WtMFu6OTSx501sLlNqd-4c8ARmuHu3l6kWLjbtvB4dajnPryJri1biiz6gEO6I0JWZuEfBN5MSfkIwa5/w307-h320/TheWorldPartOne.jpg" width="307" /></a></p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">37. Charlie Peacock -- Love Life</h3><i>(some would argue that Lie Down in the Grass or The Secret of Time is his best, but I think he got better with time; as such, this one just edges out other releases like Everything That's On My Mind to take this spot)</i><p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijApywinII6c-rzSrIs1ze0Nko_OFGyL4Uz3V1dN2UnwVVKxUraZI8GlHCN4XTBqur4JU7zmIj6n9hniawVbRazFHnfaqd106ZpDTOQCpWL7wmglXM2_vLKNI0dlV8DxE_sG6BKIB94mNxN8xn3rrkAaBWU2khjWiQlup4nCldF-MLfbClAvIR28WISHvA/s1000/61Jjzyu4-pL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="982" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijApywinII6c-rzSrIs1ze0Nko_OFGyL4Uz3V1dN2UnwVVKxUraZI8GlHCN4XTBqur4JU7zmIj6n9hniawVbRazFHnfaqd106ZpDTOQCpWL7wmglXM2_vLKNI0dlV8DxE_sG6BKIB94mNxN8xn3rrkAaBWU2khjWiQlup4nCldF-MLfbClAvIR28WISHvA/s320/61Jjzyu4-pL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="314" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">38. Margaret Becker -- Soul </h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomCr6h7xj55zOm-s6xCknO9V3jICHllxREPX3AWsBUn0fTOL74GWyUzjpCZhFE5N_CS82RM6U_R23jeUMb46xC5kD7vonI_3gOZe7xmnM9-Kh_jJ36cnSQzYGNhoRmo8RWt0PFM6MDGamFHRCG41gGQll-NfzrST5QbkTcOQ7SM-1rCrZToLReq-0bu8l/s350/51-GDueWaqL._UF350,350_QL50_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomCr6h7xj55zOm-s6xCknO9V3jICHllxREPX3AWsBUn0fTOL74GWyUzjpCZhFE5N_CS82RM6U_R23jeUMb46xC5kD7vonI_3gOZe7xmnM9-Kh_jJ36cnSQzYGNhoRmo8RWt0PFM6MDGamFHRCG41gGQll-NfzrST5QbkTcOQ7SM-1rCrZToLReq-0bu8l/s320/51-GDueWaqL._UF350,350_QL50_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">39. Considering Lily -- Considering Lily</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwr06l17IbcThL5Z5kJISdJegAhi518qc_5hvidGUxed21tOhuVSaBtAW0ACNOKm6jeHzDZvH3Jk9qAKng-0o4jigOCki2GekChiv4yL3ALFb0_cm5oGO3S1ghj5R9ZHakP8azXGhOwQvHzMrlfiffT6iHvpWW6q4hPrIHW8GvvZW6Zxc7u4HMau3140L9/s1000/51tjqbYyrfL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwr06l17IbcThL5Z5kJISdJegAhi518qc_5hvidGUxed21tOhuVSaBtAW0ACNOKm6jeHzDZvH3Jk9qAKng-0o4jigOCki2GekChiv4yL3ALFb0_cm5oGO3S1ghj5R9ZHakP8azXGhOwQvHzMrlfiffT6iHvpWW6q4hPrIHW8GvvZW6Zxc7u4HMau3140L9/s320/51tjqbYyrfL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="317" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">40. Fleming and John -- Delusions of Grandeur</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2R5lJ2O8JPv1U-hiNsg7WMdOgOK8ZLcvltyTRWRCtn-O0vmlYhFidJqcRPTHIUlwzVV6fpCqIBYKXVXn-31VjDKlAFJbFjTbsSlerOBScPmCOZSogCIyFDbxQQ9rex3ixHkv3xAYbDDw4PqhBaLPkK_hilVKuyyqOPp7ZEYbQKyI-KByVbizJIvQDOL8/s1000/518P0G9G8JL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2R5lJ2O8JPv1U-hiNsg7WMdOgOK8ZLcvltyTRWRCtn-O0vmlYhFidJqcRPTHIUlwzVV6fpCqIBYKXVXn-31VjDKlAFJbFjTbsSlerOBScPmCOZSogCIyFDbxQQ9rex3ixHkv3xAYbDDw4PqhBaLPkK_hilVKuyyqOPp7ZEYbQKyI-KByVbizJIvQDOL8/s320/518P0G9G8JL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">41. Iona-- The Book of Kells</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcj_biG7oLMpWcNKS0lB9pRMXNs8JTdT84Gj8-x2gn5hK-X0L2IHt_ObqpqOPF0MWGfBK11Y_K6TFJ2XwBXa_D92G-5Wjohe78JxFSsjJDh4WZYHiuAX99hPW0SySlvq-oO_FlmaDlVCe4-_9PCt_B-Fv1w7qdlVMO9U5ZPIoIG3-7WFy0nkeaYkeIxwu4/s225/download.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcj_biG7oLMpWcNKS0lB9pRMXNs8JTdT84Gj8-x2gn5hK-X0L2IHt_ObqpqOPF0MWGfBK11Y_K6TFJ2XwBXa_D92G-5Wjohe78JxFSsjJDh4WZYHiuAX99hPW0SySlvq-oO_FlmaDlVCe4-_9PCt_B-Fv1w7qdlVMO9U5ZPIoIG3-7WFy0nkeaYkeIxwu4/w320-h320/download.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">42. My Brother's Mother -- Deeper Than Skies</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR7nw1bbG9TGamex1KH6-ct5GN21c5DDAV9AOIGLSr_OQ40wtSWimtTwbnxI85KMcNr2ddRo8xIoWizL7JVsZyWD_IWntbL-eXfe3g7kQwMUQXWBI42Xd5BNXUtj6UY-x4BCRhZcdCq2Msr0Soj5viTjNxhwnOm2HzEGrpFTbh7svOLhjRWpxA_66s8hww/s1000/5114DrCEIyL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1000" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR7nw1bbG9TGamex1KH6-ct5GN21c5DDAV9AOIGLSr_OQ40wtSWimtTwbnxI85KMcNr2ddRo8xIoWizL7JVsZyWD_IWntbL-eXfe3g7kQwMUQXWBI42Xd5BNXUtj6UY-x4BCRhZcdCq2Msr0Soj5viTjNxhwnOm2HzEGrpFTbh7svOLhjRWpxA_66s8hww/s320/5114DrCEIyL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">43. A Clash of Symbols -- Begging at the Gate Called Beautiful</h4><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkN6IU04-w44ZtmU6tQX-zhLIppiw7yK56TDr-PZsGs4f9RrUPJ1eFTklZ1Fhf6CEJTybJWeo7VTSegjfaqGRxiKKHlNiuytMQMoZgKu07z0kayucP-B-baunNBEPHBW1rQP-mM77H1V-PKE3GHdQ0fXjmM1lDTojkfJCwsFaYYtlMIxU0TKDVvJVQ9nhS/s226/download%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="226" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkN6IU04-w44ZtmU6tQX-zhLIppiw7yK56TDr-PZsGs4f9RrUPJ1eFTklZ1Fhf6CEJTybJWeo7VTSegjfaqGRxiKKHlNiuytMQMoZgKu07z0kayucP-B-baunNBEPHBW1rQP-mM77H1V-PKE3GHdQ0fXjmM1lDTojkfJCwsFaYYtlMIxU0TKDVvJVQ9nhS/w320-h316/download%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">44. Southside Blades of Eden -- Spirit, Love & Fire</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtkWWCL5lesIq726ZyfMa8NXNxMW6KIyWCwKIdmd757jYBbEcyCBJZM0nqSoI5xjlwt_1_yhhku22JCGDqano78ZeAJndVDJLcJBEUQPqSzF8N6Wwd2ErjZmi2TA76H8_ORS9DYPOaxuggDRxJCjZJLkSDhQZBolO9J3FyY1w9IULo7Fn9Ga0vsP44Hoz/s1000/315oL-wZqqL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="995" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtkWWCL5lesIq726ZyfMa8NXNxMW6KIyWCwKIdmd757jYBbEcyCBJZM0nqSoI5xjlwt_1_yhhku22JCGDqano78ZeAJndVDJLcJBEUQPqSzF8N6Wwd2ErjZmi2TA76H8_ORS9DYPOaxuggDRxJCjZJLkSDhQZBolO9J3FyY1w9IULo7Fn9Ga0vsP44Hoz/s320/315oL-wZqqL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="318" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">45. Undercover -- Forum</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjysg-Tr2nrFh3uuTrRGo3PJpTSSv3lXhgAnHG9FlEL4XZxilQKv8i4M99DqBV3bUdfysc8Pwx_c1S_3CIuLSSuMb9HUgz5fWuH2DcaW3txPxqJqBolYNcwIVtyOvpQsLEf3mGxx-oT8tWrtqYSNbIsUczmBl64gO7Z1OmQ6-6zKdF9qjbqhncXsZL1Bf-Z/s225/download%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjysg-Tr2nrFh3uuTrRGo3PJpTSSv3lXhgAnHG9FlEL4XZxilQKv8i4M99DqBV3bUdfysc8Pwx_c1S_3CIuLSSuMb9HUgz5fWuH2DcaW3txPxqJqBolYNcwIVtyOvpQsLEf3mGxx-oT8tWrtqYSNbIsUczmBl64gO7Z1OmQ6-6zKdF9qjbqhncXsZL1Bf-Z/w319-h320/download%20(2).jpg" width="319" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">46. Magdalen -- Revolution Mind</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHfpmdCuGrpoYEojH_B0cBYVbZ9CBe4Hx4oU25uIqbdC6Mhs4g4LKbA9f9w1eZkGJ5FfYIKcF0EhGe-cFvF_6EkNY83ynNi9Sz3rmHNafUKt_z439Y7oem65HcLTUAzwU9Ve4redYtXS2oOczxWIG0zGn3okYhlIan3ocTx769ItI94ZC9kFaBjrPa2rj/s1000/513th10bwmL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHfpmdCuGrpoYEojH_B0cBYVbZ9CBe4Hx4oU25uIqbdC6Mhs4g4LKbA9f9w1eZkGJ5FfYIKcF0EhGe-cFvF_6EkNY83ynNi9Sz3rmHNafUKt_z439Y7oem65HcLTUAzwU9Ve4redYtXS2oOczxWIG0zGn3okYhlIan3ocTx769ItI94ZC9kFaBjrPa2rj/s320/513th10bwmL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">47. Shades of Blue -- Shades of Blue</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSh6ELKj7Wkpf-pFQ_gmP6FT8xwD1GO6fNW3AHlwnrh49r8Gs4gTjjiH4-MnooL090QuOOxxy2XtTJKqcS6kjaocSRg61zuLjYdf5kCiGojJiZaVxwCQBv1VETiisE6MHFDlCHkUo0husWSNGkKKGaKRrCfpBVW11GRBG6UNTcsXyazWtJNCAgp-3M5Gff/s225/images%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSh6ELKj7Wkpf-pFQ_gmP6FT8xwD1GO6fNW3AHlwnrh49r8Gs4gTjjiH4-MnooL090QuOOxxy2XtTJKqcS6kjaocSRg61zuLjYdf5kCiGojJiZaVxwCQBv1VETiisE6MHFDlCHkUo0husWSNGkKKGaKRrCfpBVW11GRBG6UNTcsXyazWtJNCAgp-3M5Gff/w320-h320/images%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">48. Uthanda -- Groove</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggDy_rMOUB3hqVW2WrddQEZQRcyWqcmi6lMusPiZd7GF9wAi_VrcV_eiHXY7Y_rKMqSvfRVwaKqpcshQ-dr6YHVvh-4osPzrhdnziSonF-NdPuQcCh3D4TE64S0UmR4Va5_qN8N_svEWOjprr7g83AiqmX6prHVkrVuCktISP_LDt0VRqs-LBX2LaSDP3/s1000/31MW3QMtahL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggDy_rMOUB3hqVW2WrddQEZQRcyWqcmi6lMusPiZd7GF9wAi_VrcV_eiHXY7Y_rKMqSvfRVwaKqpcshQ-dr6YHVvh-4osPzrhdnziSonF-NdPuQcCh3D4TE64S0UmR4Va5_qN8N_svEWOjprr7g83AiqmX6prHVkrVuCktISP_LDt0VRqs-LBX2LaSDP3/s320/31MW3QMtahL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">49. Mukala -- Fiction</h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFSPkXBCwYDgjSycyAQxl9IHsPiLtWT0V7sLG6H19-eEL7ALziRlbB8NEgAGa4kNvxZEKXClKqJ5uqgH202YieaSExSlR6iwqgcHe0yKtPzQ1SJhPNWTSOrYbcfHfZCTHeHsb_p7h5-U7XY_1FFWO8R2kmVpRVw9BeS_ZNP5fYHwlrAYUpC8ezgNmUeVR/s640/ab67616d0000b2733cfb36c9539fd5f5acfc8938.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFSPkXBCwYDgjSycyAQxl9IHsPiLtWT0V7sLG6H19-eEL7ALziRlbB8NEgAGa4kNvxZEKXClKqJ5uqgH202YieaSExSlR6iwqgcHe0yKtPzQ1SJhPNWTSOrYbcfHfZCTHeHsb_p7h5-U7XY_1FFWO8R2kmVpRVw9BeS_ZNP5fYHwlrAYUpC8ezgNmUeVR/s320/ab67616d0000b2733cfb36c9539fd5f5acfc8938.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">50. Dave Perkins -- The Innocence</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaom6duZHVf5FCojrGeTwu0SQN9tG_e_iVLPYhhNOTBSMqWSSDEZAzkCgEF9c1sZgHPeDWhFFsAOAStXgKhhdEPPF2TxA1Sy8YvjaBHcIhSNw1Xuqb5HqswaU1YeaAIEkoaRUljFywuEWw8EjaagacpTpOfrxG6c-OmQzW-VZs5yf1YmSZCnsH1fST5Fw/s350/a3410233566_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEaom6duZHVf5FCojrGeTwu0SQN9tG_e_iVLPYhhNOTBSMqWSSDEZAzkCgEF9c1sZgHPeDWhFFsAOAStXgKhhdEPPF2TxA1Sy8YvjaBHcIhSNw1Xuqb5HqswaU1YeaAIEkoaRUljFywuEWw8EjaagacpTpOfrxG6c-OmQzW-VZs5yf1YmSZCnsH1fST5Fw/s320/a3410233566_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-74876376027559774792024-01-25T07:57:00.004-05:002024-01-26T10:52:29.298-05:00A State of Affairs...<p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjW0EaGgccR-hDDiJoKevnbdq0Qw6iCOohs8NnvGpZYl03_Zfyhiger0D0Jhz43-VpYx_ZXKgO5rDszATnzLKTQ7gULAJnpQ5drY7aMEVOpMmQ2P7pkfAHhxiwZXfO0IGvqOr7AR3uTVELUP61zPvAcI72pqF9-y79kd9Juyi1rQZ-9vT3PD-JdaJ6KRFW/s4896/kenny-eliason--Cmz06-0btw-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="4896" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjW0EaGgccR-hDDiJoKevnbdq0Qw6iCOohs8NnvGpZYl03_Zfyhiger0D0Jhz43-VpYx_ZXKgO5rDszATnzLKTQ7gULAJnpQ5drY7aMEVOpMmQ2P7pkfAHhxiwZXfO0IGvqOr7AR3uTVELUP61zPvAcI72pqF9-y79kd9Juyi1rQZ-9vT3PD-JdaJ6KRFW/w554-h368/kenny-eliason--Cmz06-0btw-unsplash.jpg" width="554" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">As long as the left supports abortion rights, no matter how biblical their other goals may be, nothing they do will cause them to be supported by evangelicals. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">As long as the right opposes abortion, no matter how unbiblical their character and goals may be, nothing they can do will cause them not to be supported by evangelicals. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Issues of individual character matter less to American Christianity (with a few outliers) than being able to stop others from doing the sins evangelicals feel are the "critical" ones for believers. In other words, the Fruit of the Spirit takes a back seat to judging the toothpick in another person's eye.</span></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-60029295443964854572023-12-15T09:35:00.012-05:002023-12-15T09:36:19.371-05:00"Family Values"<p><span style="font-size: medium;">What they mean when they say "family values" - straight, white, suburban, 1950s ideals where you hid the sins beneath the veneer of civic politeness and patriotism. No gays. No trans. No uppity blacks talking about unfairness in the system. Submissive women doting on husbands. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">What I mean when I say "family values" - actual values that the Bible and other holy books espouse: kindness, patience, service, love, goodness, gentleness, love for the poor, widows, and orphans, the rich refusing to hoard up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6d7AsbYxQbT1s3Lx6OS_-NN9Oqon8l9dUrPifphiJXs54XnhwNVxmFGX53eU-Lxo4IF-bqOWbhY6PEDvGg5sGW5qGbsmkVHB7wJ5Q8wFrLGfQy2LyUDKpV2V2sB3F0z5LIyLxVqcYaULqx7DauJ3HDVhSwA0j1IZo-h-hsHljecygr-HYJI_2SIYV9qq/s498/dont-stir-the-pot-kid.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6d7AsbYxQbT1s3Lx6OS_-NN9Oqon8l9dUrPifphiJXs54XnhwNVxmFGX53eU-Lxo4IF-bqOWbhY6PEDvGg5sGW5qGbsmkVHB7wJ5Q8wFrLGfQy2LyUDKpV2V2sB3F0z5LIyLxVqcYaULqx7DauJ3HDVhSwA0j1IZo-h-hsHljecygr-HYJI_2SIYV9qq/s16000/dont-stir-the-pot-kid.gif" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-17483989750169227152023-11-29T10:16:00.007-05:002023-11-30T07:52:10.804-05:00 The Grand Mystery and the Adventure of the Search<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwMUfOaIBC-YvAP7eNoLBLm-DhYnZLpGL8HEtX6CH3tXog1TmkVuePB5qgWHJQitsbU9ML15r_9AguLkXbU2anP9jLEIAjXSQ2MZo7r9ZeOyZZf0uNqYBfoZUeg02D3bVoiqCn0Wjvfx3UWwKhnNIY8DZlQkyja2sk0AmifwYJlpv1Vuz-O_slhDYvHRu/s450/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="112" data-original-width="450" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwMUfOaIBC-YvAP7eNoLBLm-DhYnZLpGL8HEtX6CH3tXog1TmkVuePB5qgWHJQitsbU9ML15r_9AguLkXbU2anP9jLEIAjXSQ2MZo7r9ZeOyZZf0uNqYBfoZUeg02D3bVoiqCn0Wjvfx3UWwKhnNIY8DZlQkyja2sk0AmifwYJlpv1Vuz-O_slhDYvHRu/w536-h134/images.jpg" width="536" /></a></i></div><blockquote><i>"What you say about God—who God is, what God cares about, who God rewards, and who God punishes—says nothing about God and everything about you. If you believe in an unconditionally loving God, you probably value unconditional love. If you believe in a God who divides people into chosen and not chosen, believers and infidels, saved and damned, high cast or low caste, etc. you are likely someone who divides people into in–groups and out–groups with you and your group as the quintessential in-group. God may or may not exist, but your idea of God mirrors yourself and your values." -- Jim Palmer</i></blockquote><p></p><p>I noticed this quote from Jim Palmer the other day (listed among a group of other "14 things the misguided religious establishment doesn’t want you to know") and got really excited by this particular point. </p><p>I can only "speak" for myself, but I've found this to be incredibly true in my life, both from my relationships with other religious people I have known and in my own faith as well. </p><p>It would be easy to address the faults in others by referencing this quote, but that's not my intention. Instead, I want to mention only my own piece of timber instead of the stick in anyone else's eye. </p><p>Rather than approaching my faith as the "get out of hell free" card or the "cosmic lawgiver" or even the "celestial lover" that have become the predominate metaphors for our relationships with the I Am (i.e., Christ/God/the Holy Spirit), my own metaphor has always been that of the great mystery, the ultimately unknown and unknowable. Now, I know the whole point of the faith is that Christ is knowable, but for my understanding of my chosen religion, no matter how well I may feel I know or know about, it is but a mere pittance and the tiniest fraction of what I could or should know. </p><p>For me, my journey of faith is about the journey, the search for growing deeper and deeper into the great mystery. It hasn't always been so. As a child and a teenager, I was very much indoctrinated in the fear of Hell, the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" version of the gospel. Later, in my twenties, I discovered C.S. Lewis and <i><b>Mere Christianity</b></i> and the books of Francis Schaeffer and embraced the faith as an exercise of the rational. As such, I embraced the world of theology and apologetics. Some time after that, I read the wonderful Singer trilogy by Calvin Miller and began to seek out the version of the Christ who was the romantic leading man for his bride (the church's role in this metaphor). </p><p>The next step is the one that has captured my mind and ensnared my imagination for the past 20 or so years. It came from learning that none of the previous understandings fully helped me to seek the heart of God, the almighty, the infinite, the beyond creation. Finding freedom from Hell gave me little more than the need to say magic words. Apologetics and theology gave me a deeper knowledge about God (or at least what the writers I read knew or felt they knew about God). And pursuing Christ the great lover left me feeling empty as if I had only been fooling myself all those years and I was supposed to be more secure and solid on my standing, as if I could physically see, touch, hear, and know someone so beyond my ability to comprehend. </p><p>Only by embracing the object of my religion as the great mystery allows me to embrace the journey and not become a tangle of guilt as not feeling knowledgeable enough, loving enough, following the rules enough, etc., because I can acknowledge the truth (my truth, anyway) that it's okay not to know the rules because we made them up for the most part, not to feel the tender affection of the bridegroom because I don't possess yet the ability to feel such things until I can know as I am known, not to be able to place the mystery in a box called theology and apologetics and say "this I know and it will never change."</p><p>Only by embracing the journey toward the great mystery can I come to terms with a gradually growing (but never getting beyond the simplest of childish grasping). Only by embracing that the "out there" is something that can't fully be an "in here" -- after all, even in Christ, there was still God that couldn't fit and remained as the Godhead -- and therefore something that I can't trust my senses to know or not know, to feel or not feel. </p><p>I think this is why my writing also takes the direction of the adventure of uncovering or discovering the mystery. Because of who I am, some might say who I was made to be, my stories helped me to understand this part of me and how it relates not only to my craft as a storyteller but also my understanding of my faith. </p><p>As I embrace the adventure of seeking to comprehend the incomprehensible, I can fully understand (finally) how to extend grace to all others on that journey (or not on that journey). A journey means each person is on their own trip and my business is my trip, not yours. It allows me to give latitude to those who may believe differently than I do, because if God is ultimately a mystery, they have as much right to try to put the mystery into words as I do. It means that I don't judge those who follow different rules because the rules come from theology and theology comes from individual and group study, and that my rules apply to me alone based on my study. It means that until the journey is over all the answers aren't found, like U2 said, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." </p><p>Or, as Carolyn Arends sings in her song " Reaching":</p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>There's a time I can recall <br />Four years old and three feet tal<br />Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar<br />And both were out of reach...</i></p><p><i>Well, I should not have thought it strange<br />That growing causes growing pains<br />'Cause the more we learn the more we know<br />We don't know anything...</i></p><p><i>So when we taste of the divine<br />It leaves us hungry every time...</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>And perhaps I never will find what I'm looking for or reach the stars and the cookie jar. At least, not until maybe I become a flower leaning towards the light, to borrow from the metaphor Dante used in <i><b>Paradiso</b></i>. After all, it's as good (or perhaps even better) a metaphor as any of the others I've lived under up to now.</p><p>As I embrace the journey of seeking the heart of the mystery of God, I have only one guiding law. Adapt as I follow and grow. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhme0bVIVvgAgGFToz8vAx-OL6jXyGLmpdNCLDfMc_JzKu0LmMpIrtE5B8UcpTizdMooj7vuHvl1ZbL4mLfKxTUut6xccWbWu22GKn3qT6-7zZF6ZMh26o2cUU_i8ZXyWhlVPytS6YZikHWCn1UClMjO5BBhoslf-DO0qUjQj4oifk0c9bFKks8cAwVwN3q/s1200/https___www.uschamber.com_assets_images_background_outer-space.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="1200" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhme0bVIVvgAgGFToz8vAx-OL6jXyGLmpdNCLDfMc_JzKu0LmMpIrtE5B8UcpTizdMooj7vuHvl1ZbL4mLfKxTUut6xccWbWu22GKn3qT6-7zZF6ZMh26o2cUU_i8ZXyWhlVPytS6YZikHWCn1UClMjO5BBhoslf-DO0qUjQj4oifk0c9bFKks8cAwVwN3q/w553-h141/https___www.uschamber.com_assets_images_background_outer-space.jpg" width="553" /></a></div>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-79360548203505752602023-11-28T13:04:00.003-05:002023-11-28T13:43:54.992-05:00As you know, I once was an evangelical megachurch pastor...<p><i><b>Editor's Note: This is a post from Jim Palmer, a former pastor who is currently an evangelical. While we don't hold every point listed here in common, I do think he presents a lot of information worth mulling over. </b></i></p><p>As you know, I once was an evangelical megachurch pastor and my pastoral career stretched over many years. Eventually, I could no longer teach Christian doctrine with a good conscience and realized this teaching was not truly changing people’s lives… and so I walked away from the whole enchilada. </p><p>Below are 14 things that the misguided religious establishment doesn't want you to know. Speaking for myself and my personal experience, I was not able to see or admit these things to myself. I truly got into ministry initially because I wanted to make a difference and help people, and I relied upon the belief-system I learned as the proper framework to achieve this. It took a lot of post-religion reflection to see the ways this belief-system was hurting people. </p><p>I offer the below list in hopes that you might disentangle yourself from harmful beliefs and attitudes impacting your life. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">14 things the misguided religious establishment doesn’t want you to know: </h3><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicB1R_gbPpY5zxY6lzB3-z_SLnLWS8XkUc9kfiUXxZd7dGyAervbuR6amoCM63CeIl_zau2dveP3n8nT7eXP97Y-HkkFjo735e1b4255M6EXnqnI_nBD26bKTr82La28RHp7s0J6zuoOAJ5xgqDjDAE9EIR4l-HL90UZXeKz2AVXeBULDjypgec3EDJ65/s749/354648707_10159537013180592_1621123280955282849_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="749" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicB1R_gbPpY5zxY6lzB3-z_SLnLWS8XkUc9kfiUXxZd7dGyAervbuR6amoCM63CeIl_zau2dveP3n8nT7eXP97Y-HkkFjo735e1b4255M6EXnqnI_nBD26bKTr82La28RHp7s0J6zuoOAJ5xgqDjDAE9EIR4l-HL90UZXeKz2AVXeBULDjypgec3EDJ65/w400-h334/354648707_10159537013180592_1621123280955282849_n.jpg" width="400" /></a>1. Toxic religion is rooted in fear, especially fear about the afterlife. It leverages the false doctrine of hell to win converts and demand holiness. The fear of God's disapproval, rejection, abandonment and punishment is another hallmark of toxic religion. </p><p>2. Clergy have no innate authority. Holding a church leadership position or having a theological degree does not imbue a person with special divine authority or superiority. The terms "anointed", "called", or "chosen" or titles such as "pastor", "priest", "bishop", "elder", "evangelist" or "apostle" do not confer any innate authority on an individual or group. </p><p>3. We hold sacred what we are taught to hold sacred, which is why what is sacred to one community is not sacred to another. </p><p>4. The stories in our sacred books aren’t history, nor were they meant to be. The authors of these books weren’t historians but writers of historical fiction: they used history (or pseudo history) as a context or pretext for their own ideas. Reading sacred texts as history may yield some nuggets of the past, but the real gold is in seeing these stories as myth and parable, and trying to unpack the possible meanings these parables and myths may hold. </p><p>5. Prayer doesn’t work the way you think it does. You can’t bribe God, or change God’s mind through obedience, devotion, or groveling. The underlying theistic premises of prayer are untenable.</p><p>6. Anything you claim to know about God, even the notion that there is a God, is a projection of your psyche. What you say about God—who God is, what God cares about, who God rewards, and who God punishes—says nothing about God and everything about you. If you believe in an unconditionally loving God, you probably value unconditional love. If you believe in a God who divides people into chosen and not chosen, believers and infidels, saved and damned, high cast or low caste, etc. you are likely someone who divides people into in–groups and out–groups with you and your group as the quintessential in-group. God may or may not exist, but your idea of God mirrors yourself and your values. </p><p>7. Nobody is born Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, Protestant, etc. People are born human and are slowly conditioned by narratives of race, religion, gender, nationality, etc. to be less than human. </p><p>8. Theology isn’t the free search for truth, but rather a defense of an already held position. Theology is really apologetics, explaining why a belief is true rather than seeking out the truth in and of itself. All theological reasoning is circular, inevitably “proving” the truth of its own presupposition. </p><p>9. Becoming more religious cannot save us. Religion is a human invention reflecting the best and worst of humanity; becoming more religious will simply allow us to perpetuate compassion and cruelty in the name of religion. Because religion always carries the danger of fanaticism, becoming more religious may only heighten the risk of us becoming more fanatical. </p><p>10. Becoming less religious cannot save us. In fact, being against religion can become it’s own fanaticism. Becoming less religious will simply force us to perpetuate compassion and cruelty in the name of something else. Secular societies that actively suppress religion have proven no more just or compassionate than religious societies that suppress secularism or free thought. This is because neither religion nor the lack of religion solely nullifies our human potential to act out of ego, greed, fear, hostility, and hatred. </p><p>11. A healthy religion is one that helps us own and integrate the shadow side of human nature for the good of person and planet, something few clergy are trained to do. Clergy are trained to promote the religion they represent. They are apologists not liberators. If you want to be more just, compassionate, and loving, you must do the personal work within yourself, and free yourself from the conditions that lock you into injustice, cruelty, and hate, and this means you have to free yourself from all your narratives, including those you call “religious.” </p><p>12. Religious leaders claims that their particular understanding and interpretation of their sacred books should be universally accepted. Religious leaders often say, “My authority is the Bible.” It would be more accurate for them to say, “My authority is what they taught me at seminary the Bible means.” People start with flawed or false presuppositions about what the Bible is, such as: the Bible was meant to present a coherent theology about God or is a piece of doctrinal exposition; the Bible is the inerrant, infallible and sole message/"Word" of God to the world; the Bible is a blueprint for daily living. Too often religious leaders make God about having "correct theology." There are a lot of unhappy, broken, hurting, suffering, depressed, lonely people in church with church-approved theology. </p><p>13. If your livelihood depends on the success of your church as an organization, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that you will mostly define and reward Christianity as participation in church structures and programs. Christian living is mostly a decentralized reality or way of life, not a centralized or program-dependent phenomenon. Church attendance, tithing, membership, service, and devoted participation, become the hallmarks of Christian maturity. </p><p>14. You are capable of guiding your own spiritual path from the inside out and don't need to be told what to do. You naturally have the ability, capacity, tools and skills to guide and direct your life meaningfully, ethically and effectively. Through the use of your fundamental human faculties such as critical thinking, empathy, reason, conscience and intuition, you can capably lead your life. You have the choice to cultivate a spirituality that doesn’t require you to be inadequate, powerless, weak, and lacking, but one that empowers you toward strength, vitality, wholeness, and the fulfillment of your highest potentialities and possibilities.</p><p><i>-- Jim Palmer (reposted from Facebook)</i></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-4031981165343159732023-10-13T14:29:00.006-04:002023-10-13T14:29:50.119-04:00Nuwanda Forever<p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">That moment when the conservative fundamental beliefs you grew up with tell you that you should shut up and back down and get in line...</span></p><p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnvhlQCnA_Qv9Yk3gkeVIlUc8-NbzBcrJ_ZNK78Q-rocabmtthilwuMZmAWXAtjr-Dv3a2bemLjrOoaulwAGDNY6XdVifopQSp96YIRlbZ4n_tUR-BtH95mgPMeDyfu4bNALeHZxCCCU2R2ZJzqqKMl96dWCfOB4unqeoCRMfws6EvRlUFUxggyzFGEROV/s160/0939aa036eb64d36e955b197cd256e2f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="160" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnvhlQCnA_Qv9Yk3gkeVIlUc8-NbzBcrJ_ZNK78Q-rocabmtthilwuMZmAWXAtjr-Dv3a2bemLjrOoaulwAGDNY6XdVifopQSp96YIRlbZ4n_tUR-BtH95mgPMeDyfu4bNALeHZxCCCU2R2ZJzqqKMl96dWCfOB4unqeoCRMfws6EvRlUFUxggyzFGEROV/w320-h320/0939aa036eb64d36e955b197cd256e2f.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-51262849212617891382023-09-25T09:50:00.001-04:002023-09-27T07:53:13.788-04:00Shooting Straight: My Welcome Message from Facebook<p> (UPDATED 09/25/2023) </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">READ THIS FIRST! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SEND ME A FRIEND REQUEST? </h2><p>Going to put this here as a pinned post. Why? Because I get a lot of friend requests and I wonder (when I look at their pages) if they really read my "about" page. Particularly when they come here and want to argue. </p><p>If you don't want to see posts about the following, you might want to rethink that friend request unless you can play nice with others and not be a jerk or troll to people on my page.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmLr37PEL1vTj7miBqR9_HBjY5AhvVw7_ugppqDuCikjecJrxdiEfqcQdVHFiL4Wssw2-KTs9xFpSindUmFCs7fUpUm_jvMqBhR5LjK5cBFc1XN9HKTQP406dKZXYIuTWfgE5bwmG_d3JaubVid-LrPDv6--9SkbXnPSRHa2AErgT55ySBgkc1nlY6VVV/s550/dont-follow-me-21958-550x550.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="550" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQmLr37PEL1vTj7miBqR9_HBjY5AhvVw7_ugppqDuCikjecJrxdiEfqcQdVHFiL4Wssw2-KTs9xFpSindUmFCs7fUpUm_jvMqBhR5LjK5cBFc1XN9HKTQP406dKZXYIuTWfgE5bwmG_d3JaubVid-LrPDv6--9SkbXnPSRHa2AErgT55ySBgkc1nlY6VVV/w400-h400/dont-follow-me-21958-550x550.png" width="400" /></a></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">RELIGION</h2><p></p><p>I believe in God. I am a person of faith. But I'm not a conservative Evangelical. I grew up Southern Baptist and even used to work for the organization at a national level, but would most likely not be very welcome in many of them now because I also believe in a woman's right to choose and the right to life, liberty, and happiness of my LGBTQIA+ friends and folks. </p><p>I also no longer believe the Bible is an infallible document. I believe we should strive to be more like Jesus by the examples we have, whether infallible or not, and less like the American Nationalist Church of Both God and Country Inextricably Tied Together.</p><p>I don't believe I was ever called to be a Nationalist, but instead a follower of Christ without a home or country. I believe the idea that patriotism and Christianity (or any religion) should be linked is so far afield from what the founding fathers (or Jesus, for that matter) wanted and specified that both they and most religious icons would be appalled at the very idea. </p><p>Don't get me wrong. I love my country. But I also love it enough to call it out when it's wrong and not believe that it's above reproach or even the best system ever created. I believe that doesn't make me some kind of traitor (unless you adhere to a modern sort of McCarthyism). </p><p>In other words, I have my own personal religious beliefs, but I also believe that I don't have the right to have my country govern you by my beliefs. Nor do you have the right to have my country govern me by yours. </p><p>Except when they intersect. </p><p>You know, like when it comes to human rights and such. Not killing each other. Not denying life, liberty, and happiness, or the right to trials, the right to vote and have reasonable access to voting, the right to not be shot in the street by angry men with guns, or strung up without trial for looking at a white woman admiringly. You know, those things in the Constitution, Declaration, Bill of Rights, and other amendments. </p><p>I believe that when my POV or your POV disagrees with those kinds of human rights issues, we back off and default to those certain inalienable rights instead of what we believe my God or your God had to say about any of it.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">POLITICS</h2><p>I believe that as we grow as a country to accept human rights and build equity to access the system equally, we need to embrace the spirit of the amendment process and change the laws so they grow with us. The founding fathers pointed us toward the future with the ability to amend the Constitution. Every step we refuse to go forward is inexorably a step backward as the rest of the world moves on.</p><p>I believe Trump was and still is a con man. I also believe too many other Republicans fear his power base, so they keep quiet even though they believe the same thing too rather than risk losing a house in the Senate or House. Cowards. I also believe that the things followers of Trump revealed about the so-called "salt of the earth" people tell us that we only THINK we've become better people as a nation. Way too many of us still live in a mindset set and solidified around the period of the Civil War. </p><p>I've seen way too many people espouse (not in these words but these ideals) that Black and Brown and Gay people are fine as long as they don't become too public with their culture and identity and as long as they play by white, straight rules instead of expecting "the Christian nation" to accommodate them as the people they already intrinsically are or seek to repair any systemic mechanics that put them at an economic, political, social, cultural, legal, etc. disadvantage. </p><p>I'm neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I tend to agree more with Democrat ideals now, but I'm no member of either party. I still wish we could have one big pool to vote from, rather than a single candidate from primarily two well-funded parties. </p><p>I personally hold these truths to be self-evident that all people (black, white, brown, gay, straight, trans, poly, religious, non-religious, etc.) are endowed with certain inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. </p><p>I believe the minute you try to trample on the rights of anyone because their identity doesn’t align with your group's viewpoint or because they were born into the wrong economic bracket or are from “one of those neighborhoods”, well, you and I are going to have a disagreement, and I'll double down in being an ally to those whose rights you're gunning for. </p><p>I believe in the right to bear arms, but I also believe in gun control. I believe the argument for what constitutes reasonable gun control should be out of the hands of anyone funded by gun manufacturers. </p><p>I believe there is something intrinsically flawed with our system when a black man can be justifiably shot for running away, but a white man will be chased and tackled instead if he does the same. I believe that unless Black Lives Matter, it's ridiculous to try to sell the idea that All Lives Matter any more than it's justifiable to argue that the Civil War was about whether the state's right to use slavery as a basis for the economy was a more important issue than the national need regarding the right for a slave to not be a slave at all. Just like the current argument that a state's right to ban abortion should be a more important state need than the national need for a ruling on whether or not a woman has bodily autonomy to make her own choices. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">IN CONCLUSION</h2><p>I think that may have covered it all. If you believe opposite me, that's fine. You have the freedom to believe as you choose, even to embrace delusions. But if any of these things make you want to rethink "friending" me here on social media, that's okay. No hard feelings. I'd rather us deal with that now than it becomes hard feelings later. Cool? Good. </p><p>However, if you are cool with all that, or even disagree with it but can be cool with me believing it anyway and not be a jerk here on my page, then go ahead. Click the button. Let's be friends. You're welcome here.</p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-30327422519052083292023-09-18T08:00:00.000-04:002023-09-18T08:00:18.686-04:00Yes, I Really Believe This<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjaIPF-5yp_ow_on0TtikQYllW93U-fLHliGthJDjDCEa4GgBS9Xclt83LToPWMpGEdDynBVXteTEWQOCqzN-ZyplKiBbKwF6rtsF0wa2jVwyP3Gf-g0hqWVqiFoOXZYB3lemlNeW1A0QJwN5oTHzrQ4qtaPp4WOO8itIk4nem9OksctMQGC9vbqMgM--g/s700/migration-RudeCustomersIMGB1.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjaIPF-5yp_ow_on0TtikQYllW93U-fLHliGthJDjDCEa4GgBS9Xclt83LToPWMpGEdDynBVXteTEWQOCqzN-ZyplKiBbKwF6rtsF0wa2jVwyP3Gf-g0hqWVqiFoOXZYB3lemlNeW1A0QJwN5oTHzrQ4qtaPp4WOO8itIk4nem9OksctMQGC9vbqMgM--g/w540-h270/migration-RudeCustomersIMGB1.webp" width="540" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"> I think it's the curse of the Type A people <br />who are drawn to becoming pastors that so <br />many churches skip Jesus to get to Paul, <br />because Type A's are far more comfortable <br />with the do this, don't do this rules from <br />Paul rather than the be this, love like this, <br />don't show off how religious you are of Jesus. </h2><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sadly, those folks often miss the point that the<br />reason people approached Paul for his wisdom<br />on matters of church leadership was that he first<br />modeled servanthood to them during his journeys<br />and didn't just come in and rattle off a <br />litany of do this and don't do that. </h2><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">I really believe the American church in <br />particular, and a theologically unprepared <br />at best and defenseless at worst flock, <br />has suffered because of that. </h2>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-91687178009046393282023-09-13T11:57:00.005-04:002023-09-13T12:01:07.064-04:00Sheep and Goats Revisited<p>A little something I try to remember that I learned from seeing the way my granddaddy Taylor loved the children of his community where he preached. He would provide the bus for them to attend events and he would find and repair broken bicycles for any child who wanted one pretty much. </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigltKTfgr1t0Db5KMBBuGyq4Y-MohkkvH-3aaBgcKyNjD5xYMngZj7CQLRDOYwvVqasxIglY_hNgt7JVAFO7PckQc2oPHtt02dSgVjHOuBjV35HXAsrFY9TiNBvcLqgKL11HbsvJjNDl_3udWuf9wgOV7huehcNNINJ3lCTi4kfWHIOTbZ7gvYgRjIRxt8/s960/345640632_1872177116487151_5378460768727371920_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="927" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigltKTfgr1t0Db5KMBBuGyq4Y-MohkkvH-3aaBgcKyNjD5xYMngZj7CQLRDOYwvVqasxIglY_hNgt7JVAFO7PckQc2oPHtt02dSgVjHOuBjV35HXAsrFY9TiNBvcLqgKL11HbsvJjNDl_3udWuf9wgOV7huehcNNINJ3lCTi4kfWHIOTbZ7gvYgRjIRxt8/s320/345640632_1872177116487151_5378460768727371920_n.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Grandma and Granddaddy Taylor.<br />Marie and Rev. Mittry Taylor. </b></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table>That little something?<p></p><p>The division between sheep and goat here has nothing to do with having the right "code of morality" or "beliefs about moral issues" or about legislating people into living under your beliefs. Instead, <b><u>it has everything to do with how much we make the choice to serve others, in particular, the desolate.</u></b></p><p>I like to believe that people who are more genuinely Christlike reach a point where that kind of choice becomes almost as natural as breathing. Conversely, I also tend to believe that people who resist service to those in need, particularly to the poor, are a lot further from the Jesus they claim to worship than they realize. </p><p><i>(Matthew 25)</i></p><p><i>31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 The people of every nation will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right but the goats on his left.</i></p><p><i>34 “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, my Father has blessed you! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your home. 36 I needed clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’</i></p><p><i>37 “Then the people who have God’s approval will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger and take you into our homes or see you in need of clothes and give you something to wear? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’</i></p><p><i>40 “The king will answer them, ‘I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant ⌞they seemed⌟, you did for me.’</i></p><p><i>41 “Then the king will say to those on his left, ‘Get away from me! God has cursed you! Go into everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me into your homes. I needed clothes, and you didn’t give me anything to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t take care of me.’</i></p><p><i>44 “They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or in need of clothes or sick or in prison and didn’t help you?’</i></p><p><i>45 “He will answer them, ‘I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you failed to do for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant ⌞they seemed⌟, you failed to do for me.’</i></p><p><i>46 “These people will go away into eternal punishment, but those with God’s approval will go into eternal life.”</i></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-73124394264194246892023-05-10T09:30:00.005-04:002023-05-10T09:34:04.640-04:00Idolizing the Words, Ignoring the Word<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); color: white; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a difference between divinely </span></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); color: white; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">inspired and divinely copyedited/translated </span></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); color: white; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">across multiple languages. We would do </span></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span><span face="TwitterChirp, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); color: white; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">well to not idolize the created thing.</span></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy2u_eEFB8jwHOAVPsF5_JxS1PhMJOTQ5glzkDSEMqpZHVf405oN0zbSWqJsosFFe95RzgvMK8167UoWOip6TRVDx7gS3GLlV917eq7tf3LOaW4oGsupho4Y9pNl4lBEDmpKk6Xb_ojwQsEsTGVqUfSSR8f-0o66v6071N2bElHAOp7Upoi-LS2kEwA/s300/EintsteinQuestionEverything.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="300" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy2u_eEFB8jwHOAVPsF5_JxS1PhMJOTQ5glzkDSEMqpZHVf405oN0zbSWqJsosFFe95RzgvMK8167UoWOip6TRVDx7gS3GLlV917eq7tf3LOaW4oGsupho4Y9pNl4lBEDmpKk6Xb_ojwQsEsTGVqUfSSR8f-0o66v6071N2bElHAOp7Upoi-LS2kEwA/w320-h282/EintsteinQuestionEverything.png" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><p></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-11654180349349835872022-06-25T18:20:00.003-04:002022-06-25T18:20:33.544-04:00Fightin' Words?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQItdr-YsBhQLbXBkZzGcIw6FPKQl9teRXWN30T4xyrNyMABzqifjI-9s4KScPkqChYmCRe5hLDHui2WIFWNh7yoQwVOqk8anwOPkN9uBGnueucDrpP-AZ73WDQjTph18JEDp1eAwEppCzE2zFtuFnB5o1zXmbYO74xzFc1SUPMn8Ke_PIMKAIEJvIw/s494/269906656_10158123335955826_7401393065559092920_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="494" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQItdr-YsBhQLbXBkZzGcIw6FPKQl9teRXWN30T4xyrNyMABzqifjI-9s4KScPkqChYmCRe5hLDHui2WIFWNh7yoQwVOqk8anwOPkN9uBGnueucDrpP-AZ73WDQjTph18JEDp1eAwEppCzE2zFtuFnB5o1zXmbYO74xzFc1SUPMn8Ke_PIMKAIEJvIw/s320/269906656_10158123335955826_7401393065559092920_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I just want to hold my grandchildren today and remind them I promise to make the world better for them. Even if they choose the need to make a difficult decision regarding a pregnancy, even if they discover they are gay or trans or whatever color of the rainbow they learn themselves to be, to keep them safe from classrooms riddled with dead kids, to promise to love them regardless and to never stop fighting to make the world safe for them.<p></p><p>Reminder for the Christians out there: We are called to be salt and light and make disciples as we go, never called to legislate our views of morality on the world in which we live. This world is not our home, and no political or religious extremism will ever make it so. Jesus never told his followers to get political power and change the Roman laws to be more like pre-King Israel.</p><p>There are believers on both sides of these issues. So for all you "I'm right, you're wrong" believers who feel like you have the hotline to God that the rest of us don't, remember that church history is filled with reformers who needed to correct the established church over and over again that they didn't have everything right any more than any of us do. Also, know that none of these issues are requirements for faith or indicators of its presence or its absence. Your understanding of scripture isn't absolute. Nor is mine. All believers would all do well to remember that.</p><p>When you come for bodily autonomy, you're targeting my daughter and my granddaughter. When you come for the right to marry your chosen human partner, you're targeting my nieces. When you come for the rights of trans folks to exist equally in the public square, you're coming for some of my best friends and my chosen family. So, yeah, damn right I'm gonna fight you on this. Know that well. </p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-49060864623448636882022-06-08T14:50:00.007-04:002022-06-08T15:24:51.292-04:00False Dichotomies of Faith<p><span face="PT Sans, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #666769;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="PT Sans, Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggG0AoxD4mhk7qbxBZrfbGu2GnRNWkWL1NyU2_87DZXeV3Ou0-6V4eHxhiCVknVwfPlSlrj8fRLIdf_9SmrDb_e3mWaBVec3DQZ-eFpFzPPfwEZ7R54znW-8YETWyN0k2FH8t7g9hac2vlJQLVqioGUG02B06gh3cgwwgSMAdIRNWp8HH5GGkwA2I37A/s900/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-442682.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggG0AoxD4mhk7qbxBZrfbGu2GnRNWkWL1NyU2_87DZXeV3Ou0-6V4eHxhiCVknVwfPlSlrj8fRLIdf_9SmrDb_e3mWaBVec3DQZ-eFpFzPPfwEZ7R54znW-8YETWyN0k2FH8t7g9hac2vlJQLVqioGUG02B06gh3cgwwgSMAdIRNWp8HH5GGkwA2I37A/w400-h266/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-442682.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Be careful, my fellow believers, when you start to divide things… Your job is to be salt and light, flavoring and shining, not separating.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There isn’t a separate sacred world and secular world. Although there can be sacred and secular mindsets. Nor are their sacred and secular jobs. Nor are their sacred and secular items (like music or pen sets or figurines). As believers, we unite the whole by being sacred in that one single world.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And we’re to enter into that one world with love and not as a clanging cymbal. We to be salt and light, not as a sort of morality police. We (as we go) make disciples one person at a time, not trying to change the world top-down from a place of cultural, political, or community power or authority, but grassroots, one at a time, from a place of lowness, humility, meekness, patience, long-suffering</span>.</span></div></div><span><span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "PT Sans", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjua0ywYHGTVP05H_ntOmvYUilhmGvLVTr9YfEoXZyYIdA8PHS8C7d0YpJ9hdtoxnlvu014KR8M2lAn0U0dYPUSOd01fyjzFnO5nBc-x3Mt215q0j1zyfHAmYWV7lr5WjVvp7UGpzV50GQpTEE1gzpn1p_2piL7YxTOxKiZzV3JjNsxfoyRJkupET-srw/s900/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1128063.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="900" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjua0ywYHGTVP05H_ntOmvYUilhmGvLVTr9YfEoXZyYIdA8PHS8C7d0YpJ9hdtoxnlvu014KR8M2lAn0U0dYPUSOd01fyjzFnO5nBc-x3Mt215q0j1zyfHAmYWV7lr5WjVvp7UGpzV50GQpTEE1gzpn1p_2piL7YxTOxKiZzV3JjNsxfoyRJkupET-srw/w400-h258/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1128063.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "PT Sans", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sacred is the image of God that is part of creation. Too often, we define it as something it is not, i.e., an arbitrary (gnostic pretty much) grouping of things that are "God things" (like church and clergy, etc.) and secular as things that are "not-God-focused" like your regular job, your kids playing recreational sports, music, etc. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a false dichotomy that came about with Kierkegaard in developing the move from reasonable faith to a leap of faith. He began with the physical (the real) and the spiritual (the woogie boogie, not his words, but the idea), and the culture of Christendom ran with it, dividing the clergy from the regular workers, the study of theology from the study of nature and science and literature and other God-infused disciplines, dividing sacred activities like prayer and reading scripture from secular activities like helping a neighbor build a house and tending to a garden (caretaking God's creation). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We took it to its natural course post-Great Awakening by creating full subcultures of so-call sacred things and so-call spiritual things. That's given us such heresies as the Christian music "market" and Christian stationery sets, to avoid having to mess with their "secular" counterparts.</span></div><span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "PT Sans", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-h-Kp1xzM4JM4F_FGW3VtEEkECW4irTCRMwAxuVaOSHCubQ4t3vlQd_cScxbFTWyKfEFPk1M1xUx6aohaIpHrMH6Ai4dCK7uCMRgqRNR11-ykRWUVEQd31A_LekHGAkZTRJrPJY_7DsVD0DswVaEIXD6cjGijc-FXhmS7naG-rPBj-Q47vM2nvk-L5g/s900/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1268514.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-h-Kp1xzM4JM4F_FGW3VtEEkECW4irTCRMwAxuVaOSHCubQ4t3vlQd_cScxbFTWyKfEFPk1M1xUx6aohaIpHrMH6Ai4dCK7uCMRgqRNR11-ykRWUVEQd31A_LekHGAkZTRJrPJY_7DsVD0DswVaEIXD6cjGijc-FXhmS7naG-rPBj-Q47vM2nvk-L5g/w400-h266/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1268514.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm referring not so much to the biblical ideal of sacred, which is defined as being set apart and is a matter of the heart (all over the old testament in regards to sacrifices) but the human ideas that get passed around as what sacred means in order to draw arbitrary lines in God's creation and in the great wealth of knowledge in that creation, whether originating from devotion (theologic) or discipline (rational/scientific/philosophical). Sacred in the OT pretty much only comes into play in regards to sacrifices and offerings. It is we believers who abused the word to make it mean something different. And that's the point of all my comments today. We keep trying to beat that same dead horse to divide between the right and wrong, when sacred has nothing to do with that. The divider is between sacred (set apart) and selfish (held onto) not sacred (spiritual) and secular (non-spiritual). </span></div><span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "PT Sans", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgytJXZdsibNgXHJdN9A6vju8hCI_5Ce_Eq9hepZeUPyXppLrDMZogWVjda2c2q83TeuVxvP0nKoWbjiK_7kmW4crR-xkC6bcok5-tM57LNYeT80JTqTxe1_wEXS7awHU-KGpTiolHIrtqS4uSAyacTC5P671vrtS6Cb5Je6f3Ojtk2zUV3c6dXBM8mA/s900/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1444965.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgytJXZdsibNgXHJdN9A6vju8hCI_5Ce_Eq9hepZeUPyXppLrDMZogWVjda2c2q83TeuVxvP0nKoWbjiK_7kmW4crR-xkC6bcok5-tM57LNYeT80JTqTxe1_wEXS7awHU-KGpTiolHIrtqS4uSAyacTC5P671vrtS6Cb5Je6f3Ojtk2zUV3c6dXBM8mA/w400-h266/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1444965.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "PT Sans", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I just don't believe in the myth of the "secular world." It's just the world. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the sooner we stop talking like it, the sooner we'll be better equipped to be actual salt and light rather than referees who stand on the side and judge.</span></div></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "PT Sans", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggM2ppe8C4cJo0ZJiQardNfHvXcWHAGYIMb4ETPet-nsGmCOAaAFE9nnJw00zkmTSvvMnN98wAqK64p2bL4PbS-Yam0pdE1iwSNplL7u32mHUJV3eRUQCgJwRakDmaJZs14OWim5x8TIz-TkQwctPExGHhmjAW290hUDMN-20T9Vjv8pVSSDi8RXwnZw/s900/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1875915.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggM2ppe8C4cJo0ZJiQardNfHvXcWHAGYIMb4ETPet-nsGmCOAaAFE9nnJw00zkmTSvvMnN98wAqK64p2bL4PbS-Yam0pdE1iwSNplL7u32mHUJV3eRUQCgJwRakDmaJZs14OWim5x8TIz-TkQwctPExGHhmjAW290hUDMN-20T9Vjv8pVSSDi8RXwnZw/w400-h266/762488-sacred-and-secular-quotes-1875915.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span><br /></span><br /></span>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-70001758444839276332021-09-15T22:04:00.000-04:002021-09-15T22:04:08.916-04:00 Immigrant’s song<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeqMaeDYojVkw2dZQLqtksbt9Jyvr79r1u3NBj7sSwzrWRR1tZ2ny9hbOJ_kUCw0FVCdCKt6_4YgHOTUwwq4fOBT2iQuX6gg-7kJ-jER3nhb3gKm6x5or9y4tjk4xBUqsS_EHGDJXv4P3/s570/r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="570" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeqMaeDYojVkw2dZQLqtksbt9Jyvr79r1u3NBj7sSwzrWRR1tZ2ny9hbOJ_kUCw0FVCdCKt6_4YgHOTUwwq4fOBT2iQuX6gg-7kJ-jER3nhb3gKm6x5or9y4tjk4xBUqsS_EHGDJXv4P3/w400-h336/r.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></div><i>by John Fischer</i><p></p><p>It’s hard to talk about Christianity in American culture right now without getting tangled up in politics — something I prefer not to do from the Catch if I can help it. But on the currently contested issue of immigration, I can’t help it. Mainly because there is a biblical mandate, both New and Old Testament, to welcome and make room for the stranger and the foreigner. If we are going to be marketplace Christians, we need to exhibit God’s attitude toward strangers and foreigners regardless of what our government does, and God is always placing them first. We may disagree over what we want the country to do or how they do it, but there is no discussion when it comes to us individually.</p><p>This is true for us as believers wherever we are in the world. Over forty times in the Old Testament, the Jewish people are admonished to welcome the stranger and the foreigner. And both Jesus and Paul speak of the same thing to us as followers of Christ. Hospitality toward strangers is built into our spiritual DNA.</p><p>Perhaps we can learn something from our Jewish friends. A recent article I read from a reputable source pointed out that there is a strong movement among Jews in America to aid and assist their Muslim neighbors and provide hospitality toward Muslim refugees among others. Syrian refugees can take English courses through a free program at a New York synagogue. One Rabbi claims that the current attitude of shunning immigrants being exhibited in America is “a betrayal of what this country stands for, what we Jews stand for, and is a terrible recollection of our own history… There has been an incredible coming together of synagogues around the country to welcome Muslim refugees. Jews really understand what it is to be ‘the other’ and to arrive in a strange country.” And now this same hospitality is being extended to Afghan refugees. </p><p>What is it to be “the other?” Many of us don’t know.</p><p>Read the full article: <a href="https://catchjohnfischer.com/2021/09/14/immigrants-song/#more-18081" target="_blank">https://catchjohnfischer.com/2021/09/14/immigrants-song/#more-18081</a></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-59355695507219801342021-09-02T14:10:00.000-04:002021-09-02T14:10:01.652-04:00John 15:13<h1 style="text-align: center;">Embrace sacrificing your<br />rights for others' safety. </h1><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXG16iSJmBmphkfof8WivadjgnRJ_zOSg5tGadEfr3JZnsnJrsKlR1-tyr4kgqLuO1bPl2UllUvZO-PftXb17hhQ_fgQIJzZiknZYOaYFMh4j_apJp4XrMy-tI27Ypi9DpppVpznhWR3Q/s800/1wgv8op27b051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXG16iSJmBmphkfof8WivadjgnRJ_zOSg5tGadEfr3JZnsnJrsKlR1-tyr4kgqLuO1bPl2UllUvZO-PftXb17hhQ_fgQIJzZiknZYOaYFMh4j_apJp4XrMy-tI27Ypi9DpppVpznhWR3Q/w512-h640/1wgv8op27b051.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h1 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Make America Groot Again!</h1><div><div><br /></div></div>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-88450700900112939512021-07-05T14:06:00.004-04:002021-07-05T14:06:40.722-04:00Celebrating Independence (and independence of thought)!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEOk7cnXnH3dDE0dnNfLKTHjJMKtciqDuMGUhD9xPHG1CJtDvKkLFCPRpmGadT-KJblLZee2fEaLF8D05a5fRZGwRl2RzVZ0W5VRrj3d1CodjRuJ693sk69bA3kgsB9bJJllf8YsuptWN/s480/safe_image.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEOk7cnXnH3dDE0dnNfLKTHjJMKtciqDuMGUhD9xPHG1CJtDvKkLFCPRpmGadT-KJblLZee2fEaLF8D05a5fRZGwRl2RzVZ0W5VRrj3d1CodjRuJ693sk69bA3kgsB9bJJllf8YsuptWN/s16000/safe_image.gif" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Yesterday was a day for celebration, but today is a day for reflection. <p></p><p>Just a reminder that Independence Day did not in fact bring independence to any but the former Europeans who declared they were no longer citizens of the Crown, and had little bearing on the then freedom of the new country's members of the population who were (a) still not seen as citizens or (b) given the right to vote or (c) still legally owned by others as slaves. Women, folks who didn't own land, and slaves still had a long way to go toward freedom, equality, and independence. It's good to enjoy the holiday as the beginning of something awesome but history is important and reminds us that it wasn't true independence for all (who were supposedly "created equal"). It's also okay to love your country and see it as a work in progress, not a finished system. It was a fantastic and radical first step, but it still had a long way to go and a lot of other people to include.</p><p>There is a school of thought out there that I think honestly believes that if you criticize something about the U.S., you can't be a patriot or love being American and be thankful. (Not directed at anyone in particular. Just a general acknowledgment from being on social media.) I find that an odious thought.</p><p>If my job as a citizen was to simply to say that all our history and all our national documents and all our ideals are all above critique and we shouldn't question them because that makes us U.S.A. haters, then where does the opportunity to learn from our mistakes come from? Particularly if we refuse to admit we make any because we're 'Murica, dammit." Where can the opportunity to see our documents as living drafts that need to change as our country grows come from? </p><p>I love my kids, but they still have issues to learn from and to change, just like I do. I love my country the same way.</p><p>For me, loving America means so much more than having the biggest flag on the block. It means so much more than relegating patriotism to whether or not someone stands or kneels during the national anthem. It means I'm proud of some of what we've done, and I have the freedom to change the other things I'm not proud of us about. It means I have the freedom to understand and acknowledge that we have a mixed bag in our history of both good and evil, and I have the right to confront the evil. It means I have the freedom to make a statement by my words and actions. It means I can respect and love my country without seeing its symbols as synonymous with its goals or even its ideals. I can love freedom and even turn away from the flag because I honor the sacrifices of those who gave their lives to keep us free. It doesn't mean I always need to turn away though, but if I feel the country is in need of understanding a shortcoming, I have the freedom to address it as it behooves my conscience. </p><p>For me loving my country means loving it with my whole heart warts and all, but instead of calling those warts triumphs, I can freely admit what they are and apply a balm to repair them and makes us even better. For me loving my country means I have the freedom and the responsibility to speak out even during times of national celebration without it diminishing my love for it.</p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-39928514466683174002021-06-08T12:09:00.016-04:002021-06-08T12:09:00.277-04:0015 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #1 The Beatles, "Eleanor Rigby"<p>As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. </p><p>These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. <span style="color: #ffa400;"><i><a href="http://filthyragsanddirtycups.blogspot.com/p/musical-apologetic.html" target="_blank">#STformativesongs</a></i></span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">#1 - "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles</span></h2><p>There has always been a sort of profound sadness in this song to me. So many people go unnoticed all the time. How can I dare say I'm being salt and light in the world if I let them continue to go by unnoticed and unloved. </p><p>Some people say I'm too friendly, that I treat total strangers as if I've known them all my life when I strike up conversations in grocery store lines, at the coffee house, or in a waiting room while my car is being fixed. I just ignore them and think of this song again. </p><p>==================</p><p>Ah, look at all the lonely people</p><p>Ah, look at all the lonely people</p><p><br /></p><p>Eleanor Rigby</p><p>Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been</p><p>Lives in a dream</p><p>Waits at the window</p><p>Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door</p><p>Who is it for?</p><p><br /></p><p>All the lonely people</p><p>Where do they all come from?</p><p>All the lonely people</p><p>Where do they all belong?</p><p><br /></p><p>Father McKenzie</p><p>Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear</p><p>No one comes near</p><p>Look at him working</p><p>Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there</p><p>What does he care?</p><p><br /></p><p>All the lonely people</p><p>Where do they all come from?</p><p>All the lonely people</p><p>Where do they all belong?</p><p>Ah, look at all the lonely people</p><p>Ah, look at all the lonely people</p><p><br /></p><p>Eleanor Rigby</p><p>Died in the church and was buried along with her name</p><p>Nobody came</p><p>Father McKenzie</p><p>Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave</p><p>No one was saved</p><p><br /></p><p>All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)</p><p>Where do they all come from?</p><p>All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)</p><p>Where do they all belong?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HuS5NuXRb5Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="HuS5NuXRb5Y"></iframe></div>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-33169027655078823572021-06-01T13:16:00.031-04:002021-06-01T13:16:00.261-04:0015 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #2 Bob Dylan, "With God on Our Side"<p> As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. </p><p>These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. <span style="color: #ffa400;"><i><a href="http://filthyragsanddirtycups.blogspot.com/p/musical-apologetic.html" target="_blank">#STformativesongs</a></i></span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">#2 - "With God on Our Side" by Bob Dylan</span></h2><p>I too was taught that the country I grew up in had God on its side. I too learned that you never ask questions when God's on your side. What I failed to learn until I was older was that, even in a historic religious understanding, God doesn't get on anyone's side. God calls people to join his/her/its (God is spirit, not human) side. </p><p>I grew up believing that as long as I went to church and didn't do the actions that the grown-ups told me to avoid that God would be on my side. It had nothing to do with the attitudes of my heart or my actual love for others. It was all about not smoking, dancing, drinking, being gay, or hanging out with with people who did those things. </p><p>I learned later that most everything I had learned as a child was garbage. True religion, I learned, was taking care of widows and orphans. Real Christian character came from exemplifying the fruit of the spirit. And I learned that the whole of religious law can be summed up as love God and love your fellow humans. </p><p>And most of all, I learned that I never have God on my side. God doesn't get behind me and support my goals. Nor does God support the goals of the USA or the church or the conservative PACs or the goals of Republican or Democrats or Libertarians or anyone. God supports his/her/its own plan... period. </p><p>The sooner I got over thinking God had my back the soon I realized I no longer had carte blanche to pursue every selfish whim I had and try to cover it in some kind of religious version of Manifest Destiny. We can ignore a lot of evils if we persist with this notion that God is on our side. </p><p>==================</p><p>Oh my name it ain't nothin'</p><p>My age it means less</p><p>The country I come from</p><p>Is called the Midwest</p><p>I was taught and brought up there</p><p>The laws to abide</p><p>And that land that I live in</p><p>Has God on its side</p><p><br /></p><p>Oh, the history books tell it</p><p>They tell it so well</p><p>The cavalries charged</p><p>The Indians fell</p><p>The cavalries charged</p><p>The Indians died</p><p>Oh, the country was young</p><p>With God on its side</p><p><br /></p><p>The Spanish-American</p><p>War had its day</p><p>And the Civil War, too</p><p>Was soon laid away</p><p>And the names of the heroes</p><p>I was made to memorize</p><p>With guns in their hands</p><p>And God on their side</p><p><br /></p><p>The First World War, boys</p><p>It came and it went</p><p>The reason for fighting</p><p>I never did get</p><p>But I learned to accept it</p><p>Accept it with pride</p><p>For you don't count the dead</p><p>When God's on your side</p><p><br /></p><p>The Second World War</p><p>Came to an end</p><p>We forgave the Germans</p><p>And then we were friends</p><p>Though they murdered six million</p><p>In the ovens they fried</p><p>The Germans now, too</p><p>Have God on their side</p><p><br /></p><p>I've learned to hate the Russians</p><p>All through my whole life</p><p>If another war comes</p><p>It's them we must fight</p><p>To hate them and fear them</p><p>To run and to hide</p><p>And accept it all bravely</p><p>With God on my side</p><p><br /></p><p>But now we got weapons</p><p>Of chemical dust</p><p>If fire them, we're forced to</p><p>Then fire them, we must</p><p>One push of the button</p><p>And a shot the world wide</p><p>And you never ask questions</p><p>When God's on your side</p><p><br /></p><p>Through many a dark hour</p><p>I've been thinkin' about this</p><p>That Jesus Christ was</p><p>Betrayed by a kiss</p><p>But I can't think for you</p><p>You'll have to decide</p><p>Whether Judas Iscariot</p><p>Had God on his side.</p><p><br /></p><p>So now as I'm leavin'</p><p>I'm weary as Hell</p><p>The confusion I'm feelin'</p><p>Ain't no tongue can tell</p><p>The words fill my head</p><p>And fall to the floor</p><p>That if God's on our side</p><p>He'll stop the next war</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5y2FuDY6Q4M" width="320" youtube-src-id="5y2FuDY6Q4M"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-16761902486079173762021-05-25T11:18:00.011-04:002021-05-25T11:18:00.297-04:0015 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #3 Michael Jackson, "Man in the Mirror"<p> As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. </p><p>These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. <i><span style="color: #ffa400;">#STformativesongs</span></i></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">#3 - "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson </span></h2><p>I know Michael Jackson is an artist with a tainted legacy, but that doesn't lessen the impact of this, one of his greatest songs. This one actually continues the theme from yesterday. Before I look to change anyone else, I need to face the, well, face I see in the mirror each day. I need to work on that person before I even dare to presume to address anyone else's faults. And sadly, knowing me the way I do, it's going to be a long time before I get that guy right enough to go around judging anyone else. </p><p>I think this one lesson is one that could fix so many of the problems in our world and cultures. </p><p>==================</p><p>I'm gonna make a change</p><p>For once in my life</p><p>It's gonna feel real good</p><p>Gonna make a difference</p><p>Gonna make it right</p><p><br /></p><p>As I, turn up the collar on</p><p>My favorite winter coat</p><p>This wind is blowing my mind</p><p><br /></p><p>I see the kids in the streets</p><p>With not enough to eat</p><p>Who am I to be blind?</p><p>Pretending not to see their needs</p><p><br /></p><p>A summer disregard, a broken bottle top</p><p>And a one man soul</p><p>They follow each other on the wind ya' know</p><p>'Cause they got nowhere to go</p><p>That's why I want you to know</p><p><br /></p><p>I'm starting with the man in the mirror</p><p>I'm asking him to change his ways</p><p>And no message could have been any clearer</p><p>If you want to make the world a better place</p><p>Take a look at yourself, and then make a change</p><p>Na-na-na, na-na-na</p><p>Na-na, na-na</p><p><br /></p><p>I've been a victim of a selfish kind of love</p><p>It's time that I realize</p><p>That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan</p><p>Could it be really me, pretending that they're not alone?</p><p><br /></p><p>A willow deeply scarred, somebody's broken heart</p><p>And a washed-out dream</p><p>They follow the pattern of the wind ya' see</p><p>'Cause they got no place to be</p><p>That's why I'm starting with me</p><p><br /></p><p>I'm starting with the man in the mirror</p><p>I'm asking him to change his ways</p><p>And no message could have been any clearer</p><p>If you want to make the world a better place</p><p>Take a look at yourself, and then make a change</p><p><br /></p><p>I'm starting with the man in the mirror</p><p>I'm asking him to change his ways</p><p>And no message could've been any clearer</p><p>If you want to make the world a better place</p><p>Take a look at yourself and then make that</p><p>Change!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PivWY9wn5ps" width="320" youtube-src-id="PivWY9wn5ps"></iframe></div><p><br /></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-19256464740480779292021-05-18T12:30:00.012-04:002021-05-18T12:30:00.298-04:0015 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #4 The 77s, "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of Life"<p> As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. </p><p>These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. <i><span style="color: #ffa400;">#STformativesongs</span></i></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">#4 - "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes, and the Pride of Life" by the 77s</span></h2><p>One of my core beliefs that has guided me is that unless I can acknowledge the evils (call it your choice, sin, bad stuff, flaws, etc.) inside, I can't become the person I'm supposed to. The minute I think I'm above anything is the moment I set myself up for a fall. There is an innate self-focus, selfishness that I have to resist, but to do that I have to know it's there and face it. It doesn't mean I embrace it, but I do have to accept it. I am a prideful SOB, and I know it. I want what I everybody else be damned instinctively, and only knowing that's not who I want to be helps be resist it. Michael Roe and the 77s nailed me totally in this song, and I love them for it. </p><p>==================</p><p>Well, I feel</p><p>Like I have to feel</p><p>Something good all of the time</p><p>With most of life I cannot deal</p><p>But a good feeling I can feel</p><p>Even though it may not be real</p><p>And if a person, place or thing can deliver</p><p>I will quiver with delight</p><p>But will it last me for all my life</p><p>Or just one more lonely night</p><p><br /></p><p>The lust, the flesh</p><p>The eyes</p><p>And the pride of life</p><p>Drain the life</p><p>Right out of me</p><p><br /></p><p>Well, I see something and I want it</p><p>Bam! Right now!</p><p>No questions asked</p><p>Don't worry how much it costs me now or later</p><p>I want it and I want it fast</p><p>I'll go to any length</p><p>Sacrifice all that I already have</p><p>And all that I might get</p><p>Just to get</p><p>Something more that I don't need</p><p>And Lord, please don't ask me what for</p><p><br /></p><p>The lust, the flesh</p><p>The eyes</p><p>And the pride of life</p><p>Drain the life</p><p>Right out of me</p><p><br /></p><p>And I love when folks</p><p>Look right at me</p><p>And what I'm doing</p><p>Or have done</p><p>And lay it on about</p><p>How groovy I am</p><p>And that I'm looking grand</p><p>And every single word</p><p>Makes me think I'll live forever</p><p>Never knowing that they probably</p><p>Won't remember what they said tomorrow</p><p>Tomorrow I could be dead</p><p><br /></p><p>The lust, the flesh</p><p>The eyes</p><p>And the pride of life</p><p>Drain the life</p><p>Right out of me</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WBk3oPaq4IA" width="320" youtube-src-id="WBk3oPaq4IA"></iframe></div>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288234788210971796.post-44989790575474436362021-05-11T13:04:00.015-04:002021-05-11T13:04:00.305-04:0015 Most Personal Songs (a musical apologetic) -- #5 Mike and the Mechanics, "The Living Years"<p>As a child of the 70s and 80s, I didn't have the luxury of computer games and social media to shape my thoughts. Instead, a lot of it came from the music I listened to. </p><p>These are the top fifteen songs that helped to make me who I am and help keep me on track as a genuine person in this human experience. <i><span style="color: #ffa400;">#STformativesongs</span></i></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">#5 - "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics </span></h2><p>This song was really driven home to me when my Granddaddy Taylor died. When I was a kid, my brother and I would visit Grandma and Granddaddy often. But as I became an adult, those visits grew far more infrequent, and when they moved to another state, we didn't seen them again until the funeral. When I arrived, one of my uncles (and rightfully so) told me directly that I had caused Granddaddy a lot of pain by not visiting or calling. And in spite of my ruffled pride, I had to admit he was right. I had (not intentionally, but by neglect) shut off part of my history because life kept me so busy and I had wrongfully just assumed there would always be plenty of time for that later. </p><p>I have tried after that to be better about keeping in touch, particularly with family, and I don't want my kids to miss a part of their heritage. So, in the interest of "The Living Years," I remind myself that I need to put all else aside from time to time and embrace the listening and the hearing I need for my own life to be complete. </p><p>==================</p><p>Every generation</p><p>Blames the one before</p><p>And all of their frustrations</p><p>Come beating on your door</p><p><br /></p><p>I know that I'm a prisoner</p><p>To all my Father held so dear</p><p>I know that I'm a hostage</p><p>To all his hopes and fears</p><p>I just wish I could have told him in the living years</p><p><br /></p><p>Oh, crumpled bits of paper</p><p>Filled with imperfect thought</p><p>Stilted conversations</p><p>I'm afraid that's all we've got</p><p><br /></p><p>You say you just don't see it</p><p>He says it's perfect sense</p><p>You just can't get agreement</p><p>In this present tense</p><p>We all talk a different language</p><p>Talking in defence</p><p><br /></p><p>Say it loud (say it loud), say it clear (oh say it clear)</p><p>You can listen as well as you hear</p><p>It's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)</p><p>To admit we don't see eye to eye</p><p><br /></p><p>So we open up a quarrel</p><p>Between the present and the past</p><p>We only sacrifice the future</p><p>It's the bitterness that lasts</p><p><br /></p><p>So don't yield to the fortunes</p><p>You sometimes see as fate</p><p>It may have a new perspective</p><p>On a different day</p><p>And if you don't give up, and don't give in</p><p>You may just be okay</p><p><br /></p><p>So say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)</p><p>You can listen as well as you hear</p><p>Because it's too late, it's too late (it's too late) when we die (oh when we die)</p><p>To admit we don't see eye to eye</p><p><br /></p><p>I wasn't there that morning</p><p>When my Father passed away</p><p>I didn't get to tell him</p><p>All the things I had to say</p><p><br /></p><p>I think I caught his spirit</p><p>Later that same year</p><p>I'm sure I heard his echo</p><p>In my baby's new born tears</p><p>I just wish I could have told him in the living years</p><p><br /></p><p>Say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)</p><p>You can listen as well as you hear</p><p>It's too late (it's too late) when we die (it's too late when we die)</p><p>To admit we don't see eye to eye</p><p>So say it, say it, say it loud (say it loud)</p><p>Say it clear (come on say it clear)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5hr64MxYpgk" width="320" youtube-src-id="5hr64MxYpgk"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>seanhtaylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04904457463544311851noreply@blogger.com0