The Black Confederate Down the Street

It's a strange feeling when I'm just heading out for the morning and that dude's out there mowing his lawn with his rebel flag bandanna around his mouth.  And he always turns around to watch me come down the street, too.  He never really waved and he doesn't at all now; that might be because I used to  wave but he rarely waved back...so I stopped.   I don't know if he's of Confederate soldiers' ancestry, but it's quite possible he is.  The area in and around our neighborhood was once a very large plantation.  Some slaves in the area took up their arms with their masters during the Civil War, and when it was over they built communities on the abandoned farms.  But who knows.  I just know he reps....hard.  I've never talked to him and don't plan to...well, maybe.  No beef...it's  just strange.

Prophets vs. Profits

The time is right around the corner when churches and other religion-based business  are going to have to pay taxes.  It's just too much money for the U.S. government to let go by; particularly with the public scrutiny Christian ministries have been getting since the '80s, something is gonna get done.  You can save all the loopholes and technicalities that prevent this from happening; and it's not necessarily a matter of national endorsement for any type of faith.  The Feds will start looking at churches for what they really are...businesses.  And though a lot of people tend to have some challenging emotions when churches are referred to in this matter, the reality is that 1. the American Church industry is one of the most profitable "non-profit" sectors anywhere and 2. churches paying taxes is biblical (see Luke 20:21-25).  I say all this to say that I believe it would be healthy if we stop looking a church organizations as some fantasy group of good-willing hippies and see it for the money making machine that it is.

The Sword is Pretty Mighty

Back in my...let's say distorted reality days...my friend and I were doing our usual riding around the region being aimless, uninspired, and lazy.  We were coming out the a Wal-Mart parking lot...riding slow as the uninspired does...and this guy comes flying by us and cuts me off; blowing hard on his horn and appearing to let out some curse words.  He was stopped in the turning lane by a car in front of him who was awaiting the passing of the oncoming traffic, and now he was directly in front of us.  Unfortunately for him, he was unaware of the type of young men he had honked and cursed at.  Before I could come to a complete stop and started banging on his window.  At that time, a young black man in his early twenties wearing a dingy white T-shirt and his hair half cornrowed in itself was a little scary for some people.  But then to have this type of person screaming at you "honk that horn now" in complete rage was and still is the definition of fear.  From my position still in the car you could tell the Caucasian gentlemen was deathly startled...and thank God this wasn't when people were recording everything.  In the end, nothing happened; except that maybe that guy learned that when acting in a manner that suggests you're ready for action...be ready for action.

How Christmas Would Look If It Was About Christ

I got asked to play music for church Christmas party coming up this week.  I got a solid order to play only Christmas music for the party...to keep the spirit of the holiday flowing.  Now in my mind, I'm thinking every Christian song I have in my phone is a Christmas song...being that they talk about Jesus and all...so I'm good.  But that's not the case; and with singing holy holy holy I need to spin a little ho ho ho too.  Unfortunately for them, I'm pooping on that party.  Not on purpose, but my track record on pagan holiday celebrations speaks for itself; and if jingle bells are heard it'll probably be when I'm in the bathroom.

Instead of Revolution....Revival

By now, many of you know that my works lead with the principles and logic found in the Word of God, commonly referred to as the Bible.  With knowing this, the title of this work would indicate that I'm making a statement advocating for peace in this tumultuous situation between what appears to be the United States Police Department and a portion of  United States citizens.  Annnndddd......you would be right!  But here's why.  There have been some comparisons to this season of protest and the 1960s Civil Rights movement; but there is one glaring difference....death.  And while many march up and down various downtown city streets with their $8 coffees and their $200 North Face jackets; this country and the entire world knows that you're really not about that real revolution life.