I’m thankful for:
Let’s gather together and ask the Lord’s blessing…
Creed:
I like writing about secular bands whose members call themselves Christians. I perceive they’re trying to remain secular and keep the fanbase, but at the same time, they seek something deeper themselves and/or want to spread subtle messages to fans. I don’t have anything against overtly Christian music per se, but I find tension in the former fascinating.
Check out my article at Christianity Today, Glimpses of God: Creed: Full Circle. An excerpt:
“The not-a-Christian-rock-band Creed was huge in the late 1990s and early 2000s, eventually selling 26 million albums in the U.S. The band’s first three studio releases, My Own Prison (1997), Human Clay (1999), and Weathered (2001), spawned such hits as ‘One,’ ‘Higher,’ ‘With Arms Wide Open,’ and ‘My Sacrifice.’
“Creed began as a crew of college-age friends making music together, and rose from independent band to full-blown arena rock band after signing with Wind-up Records. Opinions about Creed tend to run hot and cold, with little room for lukewarm. Some called them derivative, and others lambasted frontman Scott Stapp’s onstage ‘Jesus’ poses. Rolling Stone called Creed a ‘ham-handed version of early Pearl Jam.’
“Love them or hate them, the band reached stratospheric heights. Stapp confirmed the worst successful-yet-tortured-artist stereotypes, however, when he came crashing down in an alcohol-fueled rampage, dragging the multi-platinum-selling band with him.”
As someone who also stopped a nasty alcohol habit, I’d love to talk to Stapp about his. If you know him, tell him to call me!
Related articles:
Abortion:
I blog about abortion a lot these days. The issue’s become more important to me. Can’t stand the idea of a tiny human being sucked down a sink. Check out my latest Pajamas Media column, The Return of Abortion as a National Issue.
MLK:
Do you subscribe to the Christian Research Journal? I wrote a looooooog article critiquing Martin Luther King, Jr’s theology, to be published in the February/March 2010 issue.
What a great title.
I bet I shocked some readers when I titled a post, Obama Says God Bless Sodom. The “S” word is supposed to be passé, offensive, and just plain mean. I call things by their names. I don’t dress them up in PC or neutral terms designed to obscure what’s really going on.
I’m glad to see someone else dare to use the word Sodom. An excerpt of Star Parker’s latest column, “Sodom in the nation’s capital”:
“According to DC’s HIV/AIDS office, three percent of the local population has HIV or AIDS. The Administrator of this office notes that this HIV/AIDS incidence is “…higher than West Africa…on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya.” And the principal way that HIV is transmitted continues to be through male homosexual activity.
“Amidst this dismal picture, the DC City Council, perhaps on the theory that serving up another glass of wine is the way to help a drunk, is scheduled to vote on December 1 to legalize same sex marriage in America’s capital city.
“Looking at realities in Washington, DC should make clear why George Washington said “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
“But the America that our first president had in mind was very different from the vision of our DC government officials.
“George Washington’s America was one in which the point of freedom is to allow Man to rise to what he can become. To do this, the greatest challenge he faces is conquering himself. To rise above his baser instincts, to rise above the many temptations that lead him astray. And to achieve this end, as Washington said, ‘religion and morality are indispensable supports.’
“In left wing America, of which the DC government is a poster child, freedom means to indulge every instinct that the tradition and religion of George Washington would have us overcome.
“Where does it lead? Well, look at DC.”
It’s not a pretty sight. Read the rest.
I forgot to note my blogiversary. Again. I forgot last year, too.
I started blogging on November 5, 2003, and received 4,960,172 visits since then. I briefly tasted big blog success, and it was good. Mostly. Thank you, readers! It still amazes me.
Will I resurrect past glory? Maybe. Perhaps, one day. Such things used to mean a lot more to me than they do now.
Blogging is no longer rebellious or novel. It just…is. My whole life I’ve tried to be different from the crowd. It’s a compulsion. However, a blog is still a wonderful medium, and I encourage anyone to give it try.
When I started back in 2003, it felt new and exciting. These days, I still see the value in it, and I can’t imagine giving it up. But I’ve mellowed in six years, and some things just aren’t worth the aggravation. My blog is nowhere near as popular as it once was, and that’s by design. I slowed down, chilled out, and took it in stride. Now, I make a living blogging and writing for others.
“La Shawn Barber’s Corner,” and the wonderful people I’ve met online and in person, made it possible.
Thanks again, readers. 
(Image: Bloggersblog.com)
