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July 27, 2007

What Is Evil?

A while ago I went to a conference at Willow Creek in Chicago. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Willow, it's pretty much the Ferrari of churches. With a membership of over 25,000, they can essentially do whatever they want to. This conference I went to was an arts conference, but, not surprisingly, hardly focused on the arts at all. Most of it consisted of geo-politichurch ranting, and for some reason there was a huge emphasis on homosexuality. I've for years watched the church talk about how we need to "address homosexuality", and how "we're going to be real, and honest, and really talk about homosexuality". But, at the end of the day, no one ever really says anything. They only say that they're going to talk about it and not run from it. Such was the case at aforementioned conference. Lot's of "we're going to..." very little identifiable statements. And that's fine. I'm not complaining, just stating what i've observed. I know why this happens as well. Because at the end of the day, no one can really say anything about homosexuality because no one really knows anything about it. Nature? Nurture? Deal-breaker for salvation? Nobody knows. And so, the only proper response, in my estimation, to this issue and many others is: we don't know! We don't know. That is what we need to say. And we don't say it because we're scared of being vulnerable. After all, we've told everyone that we have all the answers.

Ironically, this type of behavior is built into our religion. Our very salvation informs us that we are, indeed, chronically full of crap. That doesn't make it any less frustrating when the crap is displayed in big-budget glory.

So what? Well, I'm realizing what evil really is. Evil works by convoluting everything. Because when everything is convoluted, humans freak out. We freak out because we are, at that point, not in control. And control is the lie that satan sold to Eve. Control is how we feel worth, power and get a taste of being "like God". Control is what advertisers sell. Control the effects of aging, control your thighs, control your social status with a car, control your destiny by being efficient and organized. When we, as a church, say "I don't know", who is in control? Not us, because we don't have an answer, which means that the people we're talking to must think for themselves. And therein lies the state of our church today. We are scared to admit that we actually don't know some things, because it might take away from the feeling of power we enjoy. The issue of homosexuality is a prime example of this. The reality is: there is very little we actually know. There is very little we can actually preach. We need to trust that God does indeed govern the universe and that nothing actually falls outside his government. Nothing. Does that make any sense at all? With all the horrible stuff happening in the world? Not really. But what is sense anyway?

So I'm realizing that evil works by making itself very very difficult to identify. And we the church have pretty much named ourselves "The Official International Evil Identifiers". That's what we do, man. We gotta tell everyone where all the evil is. You know, like in beer bottles for instance. Man, so much evil in there. (This is partly an inside joke, but I felt contributed to the axiomatic-ness of this paragraph). The biggest problem with this job we've given ourselves is that when we perform it, we cease to preach the Gospel.

I go down these long roads in my mind, and I always come back to the love of God. And I always say the only thing I think I can actually say to God: "Thank You".

Posted by chriscoxmusic at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2007

Oh, you... I didn't kno... oh... this is awkward

Next time you walk out of a restroom and there's someone waiting to use it, hold the door open for them. When they walk in, just keep holding the door open. Staring.

Posted by chriscoxmusic at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2007

Tight jeans

You know what's interesting about music and it's accompanying industry? I cannot quantify or control most of it. I cannot sit down in the morning, write out a list of things I need to do, do them throughout the day, and then see results. I can certainly write out a list of things to do, but the likelihood of seeing any of those things produce any sort of measurable result is slim to none. So, why would anyone want to have a career in music? Why would anyone work their ass off for something that may or (by far most likely) may not happen? Because it's cool. Cool is not something you can quantify or articulate. You just know it when you see it.

Eisley is cool.

Justin Timberlake is cool.

Why doesn't anyone come to my shows?

Posted by chriscoxmusic at 07:49 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2007

Why?

Why?
I want to know why. I mean really, at the bottom of the logic, why?

Why is anyone entitled to healthcare?
Why is anyone entitled to an education?

I guess what i'm saying is: I understand that it sucks when people get sick, live in poverty or have a generally low quality of life. I understand that it is better to be well than sick, and educated rather than not. But, why are these things considered "rights"? When did "better" become a right? That's what I want to know. These things are not rights. They are privileges. If I could ask Hillary or John Edwards anything, it would be "why". Let me also say that I would like to ask many on the right why it is America's job to spread democracy. Why?

You know when you go to jiffy lube and the guy who just changed your oil tells you that your brake pads are down to 5% and he doesn't want you driving around in such a dangerous situation? 'Cause,
you know, he really cares about you. Your personal safety and well-being are totally number one on his list of priorities. So it is with politicians today.

Posted by chriscoxmusic at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2007

Ok, here it is

I really can't stand michael moore. I hate him in the way that jews hate hitler. Because he his a sick, sick man, and I believe that he's hurting America. Now, I know that he's a joke. I know that no one takes him seriously. But just seeing his intellectual filth displayed in big-budget glory just irks me in a way that few things do. It's not really the things he says. It's his attitude. His attitude makes me hysterical. Now, factored into all of this is that God created him and our battle is not against flesh and blood.

Posted by chriscoxmusic at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2007

Really, really good

Kristi and I have been married for 6 weeks now, and they have been the best of my life. I've always valued certain things. Things like family, integrity, love and the love of God. But since Kristi and I have been married I've come to value these things in a way that I can't put into words. It's understanding I guess. We went to a wedding tonight and I thought I was going to cry. Because I know what our friends were feeling and are going to feel. I don't mean to sound conceited, as if I know something about marriage, because I know very little. It's just this thing. This change.

So anyway, there Kristi and I were at our friends' wedding today, in a very quiet part of the ceremony, and I found myself daydreaming. Deeply daydreaming. And I burped. Out loud. Yep. We quite literally could not stop laughing, that quiet laughter that involves massive shoulder shaking, drawing just as much attention to ourselves as if we had just dropped a Vince Vaughn quote.

Posted by chriscoxmusic at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)