Not Christian Enough

I remember a Wednesday night at youth group in junior high where we were discussing christian music. I don't remember the point of the dialogue but I remember All Star United's Saviour of My Universe was played and we were asked if it was a christian song or not. I, being an All Star United fan, said yes and that was correct. But the leader in charge said that although that song was clearly about Jesus that the self-tited debut from All Star United wasn't overtly christian. At the time I thought that statement was ridiculous and thinking back on it this morning I'm a little perplexed by that statement. The lyrics on the first All Star United record are pretty christian. They're not worship lyrics but it's clearly a christian album.

So that gets my brain thinking this morning. Why I go back to that moment in time I have no clue but I did and now I'm here. So why is there a need to qualify things as not christian enough? I guess this idea is probably most tagged to music but I'm guessing books and people get thrown into being not christian enough too.

CS Lewis said we don't need christians writing about christian stuff, we need christians writing about everything. And I believe it's true. I don't know how much the JPM scale stands today (Jesus per minute) but it used to be something music was judged by. Songs about love (with a girl/guy), struggle, politics, etc we're looked down upon. Art was censored for not being christian enough. Delirious got banned from certain christian book stores for using hell in a song. There's a difference in question the heart behind something and deeming it not christian.

Andrew Schwab posed the question this week what is Christian music. My initial answer to this question was to say music that is written to bring glory to God is what qualifies has christian. If the intent is to bring God glory then it's christian music. But I'm rethinking this. Part of me would say that Christian music is music made by christians. I don't think content can define music as christian. Am I christian blogger or a blogger that's a christian? It's a stupid question because those things are the same. Why do bands define themselves as christians in a band? Because they want the music to stand for itself and not have their music judged based on their beliefs.

My predictions for the final 2 hours of 24

So next Monday night at 8pm Eastern Standard Time will be the final 2 hours of 24. So next week I will in my mourning and tears post a retrospective about how awesome a show 24 was and how television as whole will be much much worse with it off the air. This post is my predictions about things that might, but probably won't, happen on 24 in it's closing hours next week.

So Fox ran it's preview for next weeks 2 hour series finale and there were a lot of clips and all of them were very interesting. To be honest you can get a grasp of what's going to happen but it's hard to have firm details. But I have some ideas.

People Jack will have to kill:

Cole - I was starting to like good old Freddie Prinze Jr but Chloe had to go and set him free and looking for Jack. It's not that Cole deserves to die but he's going to get in the way and Jack is going to have to take him.

President Yuri Suvarov - The Russian President is going to die. He order the hit on Freckles and Jack is going to plant a bullet in his heart.

President Taylor - This seems like a small stretch that Jack would have to kill President Taylor but.... I can't rule it out. She covered up the Russian involvement and tried to quiet Jack. Ever since then she's made just about every bad move you could think of. For Jack to kill the President would be insane but he's going to have to flee the country when this is all said and done anyway so President Taylor is on notice.

Chloe - This probably will not happen. Chloe is Jack's closest and only friend. She's the longest running character not named Jack on 24. I know some fans would be happy to see Chloe take a bullet from Jack but it would be sad. This season started out as Jack's chance at a real life and real happiness and now he's crazy. But it's clear from the preview that Chloe is with Jack and it would be a major twist if Jack had to shot and kill Chloe. Everyone who knows Jack dies... Chloe isn't safe.

Jason Pillar - Dead

People who will not die:

Charles Logan - Logan is one lucky bastard. He's pure evil. To the core. But Logan will get to live. It's unfair and unjust and ultimately it would be right if Jack found Logan and shot him. But Logan is headed the hospital and Jack has bigger fish to fry so Logan will live through 24.

Jack Bauer! - Why are people so set that Jack is going to die at the end of this season? They keep talking about a movie version of 24. You wouldn't do a movie version of 24 if Jack was going to die. Jack is the man. He might get arrested yes but he's not going to die. LIke I said, Jack is going to have to flee the country but he's going to live. He's Jack f-ing Bauer!

Next week will bring an end to the greatest show on television. It's be both awesome and sad.

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Finals

So the Conference Finals are all set. In the West the top two seeds prevail, while in the East we have the seventh and eighth seeds.

San Jose vs Chicago

This is kind of the series everyone expected in the West. Chicago surprised me in their series against Vancouver. I thought the Sedin twins were just too strong going into the series and Luongo had been playing as good as he had been all season going into the semi-finals. After Game 1 it looked like my assumptions were right. But Chicago tightened up and took the next 3 games and were able to take care of Vancouver in 6. San Jose really had no trouble with Detroit which also surprised me. I thought Detroit had too much experience to go out in 5. Nabokov was strong in goal (minus the disastrous game 4). San Jose just had too much for Detroit.

This series is hard for me to call. It's almost a battle of youth versus experience. Chicago has had a tougher road to the finals playing a tough Nashville team and Vancouver (although they won both series in 6 games). This matchup comes down to goaltending. Nabokov against Niemi. Both these teams are evenly matched and goaltending is going to be key in these series. Niemi came up big against Vancouver and has been pretty solid all year in net for the Blackhawks. But I think betting against Nabokov is a bad move. I think getting out of the first round this year has eased San Jose into just playing hockey. I think the Sharks will win this series in 7.

Philadelphia vs Montreal

The Flyers got into the playoffs on the last game of the season beating the Rangers in a shoot out. They went on to demolish New Jersey in 5 games and after being down 3-0 to the Bruins, won 4 straight to put them into the Eastern Conference finals. Montreal had to beat the Capitals, the best team in the NHL during the regular season, and the Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

I'm not picking against the Canadiens. Halak has been great in goal when he needed to be and Montreal is a team getting healthy. Losing Boucher wasn't enough to lose the Flyers the series against Boston but I wonder if Leighton can continue to be strong in net. He looked shaky in the first period of Game 7, giving up 3 goals. With both Gill and Markov coming back for the Habs, I don't think Philadelphia has a chance. But the Flyers have already been a surprise in the playoffs and if there's a team to give Montreal problems it'll be the Flyers. I still like the Canadiens to win this series in 5.

Cassie

Kitty Adventures. It's like Homeward Bound, only less epic

So Carley and I took a walk this evening. Just a nice stroll around the neighborhood. Eddie, her cat, was outside and started following us. He would walk far behind and then run and catch up and then stop at a tree and wait and then run back up again. I've never seen a cat pant like a dog until today. So he walked all around the neighborhood with us... Well mostly. We had turned the final leg of our walk and Eddie stopped at a tree. He was staring down a dog and then just went to explore the tree. Car and I kept walking. He assumed that Eddie would just find his way back home. But he didn't...

5 hours later we go to pick up Mallory from work. I see something white by the tree and tun the car around. And surprise, Eddie, 5 hours later, is still at the same tree. Just chilling. So Carley jumped out of the car, grab Eddie, and we took him home.


Silly Kitty

Infinite Keys

God Send Us a SIgnal

It's easy to forget how good God is when things are going bad. And then something little happens to let you know he's still looking out for you.