christianityandme

Friday, September 12th, 2008

Verse of the Day and my thoughts on it - September 12th, 2008

“[Suffering for Doing Good] Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”- 1 Peter 3:8

This verse speaks volumes in one very short passage. This verse speaks exactly of what Christians are called to be to the world, and to each other. A Christian should not be a divisive person, though they should stand their ground in what they believe and call on others to follow Christ. But regardless a Christian is respectable to all peoples, as they are all God’s children and that is something we need to honor as well, no matter the specific view of that person on whatever issue.

Obviously we need to love each other and lift other Christians up. It can be hard to be a Christian in the world without the support of other people of the same faith and belief, that is why the Bible calls on us to go to church, to gather, to discuss Him, but more importantly to lift up one another and help out our brothers & sisters in Christ.

And obviously, compassion and humbleness are two of the characteristics that Jesus Christ demonstrated most as He walked this Earth. The compassion of God is not a respecter of persons. It differentiates between the sin that is in man, of man and that man creates (as a result of the vile work of Satan and the disobedience of Adam and Eve) and the person himself, who has an eternal soul and spirit that will live on for eternity. As such, it’s our calling to show compassion and be sympathetic to every person, even those who commit evil deeds. We are supposed to pray for them, and to do what we can to spread the gospel of Christ. Because the world won’t hear without a preacher, and in the end justice is the Lord’s and they will get their due in the end.

I’m reminded of a Demon Hunter verse that says, “Broken. Or so you say. Nobody bought that fable anyway. So calloused, and so naïve, to wear a heart of fiction on your sleeve. Bury every sign of life in filth and hollow trend, and push against progression on the path of logic’s end; like tears flowing upward.” To me that is how a lot of non-believers believe towards God and things of Christianity. They either cry out that they are broken and need help, but then refuse it when it comes to accepting Christ, or they flat-out are against it and “push against progression on the path of logic’s end”. They use their “thinking skills” to come to the conclusion that they don’t need God.

But that’s where compassion really must kick in. Even to those that reject God, you can show them what real faith and life in Christ is like by shining it from yourself. A real Christian doesn’t even have to say a word about God, all they have to do is be “Christ-like” and believe me, people will notice. As for me personally, everyone at work knew I was a Christian and I didn’t even have to say it. In fact, I constantly got comments that I was “too nice” or “too happy”, but it was obvious that my co-workers envied it in a lot of ways.

And that leads to the last characteristic, we need to be humble. Don’t boast, don’t show off, if you are right, don’t brag, etc. People get so much of that in the world, that they will notice someone who shows these characteristics. In fact, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. And that is EXACTLY what Christians need to be doing.

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Friday, September 12th, 2008

Mike Huckabee on the Colbert Report

Former Republican 2008 Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is by far one of the funniest Republican nominees. A fact that you will no doubt notice after you get done watching this video, in which he guest starred on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

In addition to doing a bang-up job, where he is pretty must as funny if not funnier than Colbert is, I just think it’s really cool that Republicans have at least some kind of voice on such a liberal station as Comedy Central via Colbert. But anyhoo, this clip is really funny.

Edit: Ugh. I can’t get the video to work without messing up the align of the below posts. So I’ll just have to link to the video. Watch Mike Huckabee on the Colbert Report!

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Friday, September 12th, 2008

Guitar Hero (4): World Tour complete songlist revealed

The complete songlist for the 4th Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero: World Tour, has been revealed!

The list includes 86 tracks on disc and an additional 16 that will be available for purchase via Downloadable Content from day one! This means the game will launch with over 100 tracks! VERY impressive. And just as impressive is the fact that they are all Master Tracks. This means the END of covers for the Guitar Hero franchise, hip-hip-hooray!

The game will ship for Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii in America on October 26th, in Europe on November 7th, and in Australia on November 12th, 2008.

Sadly the game doesn’t really include any Christian bands to speak of. I was extremely dismayed to see that they included Paramore in the list but not Flyleaf. But the good news is that there is always the chance that some Christian bands will be added in the future as downloadable content. At the very least, it’s possible we’ll see some popular mainstream Christians bands like P.O.D., Flyleaf, UnderOath (especially cause they just released their new CD, Lost In the Sound of Separation) and As I Lay Dying, some of which have made previous Guitar Hero games. But I hope they expand to include other popular Christian bands like Thousand Foot Krutch, Skillet and Pillar. And obviously, I’d love for them to include more Christian metal bands like Demon Hunter, Norma Jean and The Showdown, the latter two who have just released new albums.

So check out the Guitar Hero: World Tour Complete Soundtrack plus videos and be sure to leave a comment, as I helped put the article together!

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Friday, April 11th, 2008

P.O.D.’s When Angels & Serpents Dance is in stores and on iTunes now (with additional song)

When Angels & Serpents Dance is P.O.D.’s latest studio album and it is now available in stores and online, ready for your purchase! The album is only $9.98 at Target and $9.99 at Best Buy, so get it now if you can! It’s also available at Wal-Mart or your local bookstore. As well as online on iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon, and Real.com where you can download it directly to your PC.

The new album is the first time the band has been re-united with guitarist Marcos who left the band soon after they finished their self-titled album. Their first single off of the new album will be “Addicted” which will be hitting MTV next week for the debut of the music video. In addition, if you order the album via iTunes you can get an exclusive song called “Don’t Fake It”, which is actually the first song that the band and Marcos recorded together upon his return.

Here is what the tracklist for When Angels & Serpents Dance looks like (you can listen to some of them on P.O.D.’s myspace):

1. Addicted
2. Shine With Me
3. Condescending
4. It Can’t Rain Everyday
5. Kaliforn-Eye-A
6. I’ll Be Ready
7. End of the World
8. This Ain’t No Ordinary Love Song
9. God Forbid
10. Roman Empire
11. When Angels & Serpents Dance
12. Tell Me Why
13. Rise Against
14. Don’t Fake It (iTunes Bonus Track)

And here’s a video of singer Sonny Sandoval talking about his past, P.O.D., his faith in God, the new album and much more.

And in case you missed the news of Sonny cutting his dreads, here is a video of him talking about it:

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Friday, April 11th, 2008

Play P.O.D. on Xbox 360 and UnderOath Studio Journal on Marketplace

P.O.D. will be playing Madden 08 for Xbox 360 tonight (RIGHT NOW!) and you can play them yourself via Microsoft’s “Xbox Live Game With Fame” event.

Can you beat the boys from San Diego?

In order to hook up with P.O.D., you must be an Xbox Live Gold member and you will need to send a friend request to the Gamertags listed below. You will also be required to be online half an hour before the Game with Fame session starts at 6:30 P.M. ET on Friday, April 11th. The Gamertags are GWF POD and GWF POD 2.

Also the first of many UnderOath studio video journals is now up on the Xbox Live Marketplace. If you have a Xbox Live account, you can download the video journal for free!

To get it, simply:
* Turn on your Xbox 360 and go to the “Dashboard”
* Cycle to the left and go to the “Xbox Live Markerplace” tab
* Go down to the “Video Store”
* Go down to the “Music Videos”
* Look for the video titled “Video Journal 1: Sweet Drum Stuff” by Underoath.

This is thanks to UnderOath also taking part in the Microsoft Game of Fame just yesterday. Where you had to register these gamertags (they may still be available): AaronUnderoath, ChrisUnderoath, GrantUnderoath, JamesUnderoath, and TimUnderoath, to play challenge the boys to some fragging with Halo 3.

Also Grant Brandell (bass) posted an UnderOath studio journal on Xbox.com via their “Emerging Artists” section where you can read updates from the band as they work on their next album.

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Friday, February 8th, 2008

Living Sacrifice tour with Demon Hunter on upcoming Stronger Than Hell tour!

Demon Hunter has dropped a bombshell, they will tour with Living Sacrifice this summer for the “Stronger Than Hell” tour in support of their latest album, Storm the Gates of Hell. An incredible album I might add, if you’re a metal fan you definitely gotta pick it up.

Demon Hunter dropped hints about this alliance recently as “clues” on their Demon Hunter myspace, Demon Hunter official site, Demon Hunter trig.com page and their “Blessed Resistance” fan-club. The clues ended up being the name of four Living Sacrifice band members: “Lance”, “Arthur”, “Rocky” and “Bruce.

Exact tour dates have yet to be announced.

This is a huge deal because Living Sacrifice, in addition to being one of the most influential Christian metal bands (originally formed in 1989) had dissolved ever since 2003, but thanks (in part) to Demon Hunter (who had Bruce Fitzhugh guest star on their song Sixteen off Storm the Gates of Hell) Living Sacrifice has now reformed! In addition to touring with Demon Hunter they are working on an upcoming album to be released this year!!

You can listen to Living Sacrifice songs on their Living Sacrifice myspace.

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Thursday, January 10th, 2008

Demon Hunter / Ryan Clark interview with synthesis.net

If you are a regular to the site you should know full well by now that I’m a huge Demon Hunter fan. They are, by the way, working on a new music video for “Carry Me Down” which I can’t wait to see!

Anyhoo, the heavy metal Christian rockers have a new interview which I have posted in full below. ENJOY!

Out of Seattle, WA, comes Demon Hunter; a brooding, full-force assault of hardcore metal with a Christian twist. A longtime member of Tooth & Nail subsidiary Solid State, Demon Hunter are currently enjoying the fruits of their latest release, Storm the Gates of Hell. Lead vocalist Ryan Clark — who also works in the artistic design wing of Tooth & Nail — took a little time out of his day to chat with Synthesis.net.

Syn: Demon Hunter has a very strong religious backbone. Describe to me the role that faith plays in the music?

Ryan Clark: Well, it’s something that all of us in the band take pretty seriously. Everything that I write about in a song is from that standpoint. They’re all life issues, and it’s all about problems and situations, and the things that I see around me, and the people I know and the people I don’t know…your worldview. For us, it’s with a Christian perspective. And it’s not something I have to consciously think about because it’s the way that I believe and the way that I view the world.

Syn: Would you consider yourself, then, as a band with a message?

RC: Yeah, absolutely. I think we definitely have something more positive to offer people who listen to our music. I think people are kinda used to a band talking about whatever, and just using it as an outlet for their anger — especially with metal — but we definitely claim to offer a solution.

Syn: Is the label “Christian metal” something you welcome as a group or are there times when you would you prefer to be just an uncategorized metal band?

RC: We don’t shy away from it. It’s one of those things that when we were younger and it was more important to be cool, we definitely tried to shy away, but as we got older and realized the reality of it… If that’s what people want to say and coin us as, then sure. It’s an easy thing to do to categorize a band as Christian, but we don’t balk at it. It’s to be expected, and if people wanna do that, it’s totally fine. It doesn’t bother us.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Thursday, January 10th, 2008

Quote Of the Day #4 - William Cowpow (1)

“Satan trembles when he sees even the weakest saint upon their knees.”
By William Cowper

Powerful. Absolutely powerful. That’s all I gotta say. Cause that’s the Truth right there.

Hope everyone has a blessed day. Check out the Quote of the Day #3 if you missed it.

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Friday, January 4th, 2008

As I Lay Dying The Forsaken, official fansite, launches

As I Lay Dying has launched their official fan-site called The Forsaken, titled after the song of the same name off their latest album, An Ocean Between Us. Forsaken is personally one of my favorite songs off the new album so it’s a great choice for the fansite name.

A yearly membership only costs $19.99 which isn’t bad at all in comparison to some other memberships for sites. And for a limited time the first 50 fans per show to purchase a Forsaken membership AND pre-sale tickets will get to meet the band!

With your subscription to The Forsaken you will get:

* Your choice between two exclusive “The Forsaken” As I Lay Dying t-shirts.
* Exclusive As I Lay Dying Forsaken sticker
* Exclusive Forsaken Button
* Members-only website, with updates from the band, tour diaries, online chats with band members, a forum, and media available only to Forsaken members
* Contests (such as soundcheck meet & greets)
* A yearly grand prize
* Monthly random give-aways (merchandise, used drumsticks, signed posters, used cymbals, guitar pedals, guitar picks, signed CD inserts, and more!)

Check out the site by clicking on the name above for more information. And if you don’t know anything about the band, then definitely check out the As I Lay Dying myspace and give them a listen!

I’ve also posted all their previous music videos including: The Darkest Nights, Confined, 94 Hours and Through Struggle.

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Friday, January 4th, 2008

Mike Huckabee on The Tonight Show and Meet the Press, video interviews in full included

As everyone probably knows by now, Mike Huckabee, the Baptist Minister and former Governor of Arkansas (from the small town of Hope, the same town that former President Bill Clinton was born) has won the Republican Iowa Caucus. He beat out the much richer Mitt Romney, who spent upwards of 7 $million compared to Huckabee’s poultry hundreds of thousands of dollars, a significant difference. Obama on the other side beat out John Edwards who got second and Hillary Clinton who go third.

Huckabee getting the win means that the little guy can still win in American politics, which is a great thing. Although Huckabee will still be tested significantly in the later states, because unlike Iowa (where 60% of the population identifies themselves as evangelical Christians, and thus voted for Huckabee) other states are more secular oriented. So it’ll definitely be very interesting to watch.

Since Huckabee is once again the talk of the town, I thought I’d post some interesting extensive interviews with the Presidential hopeful.

First up is two videos of Mike Huckabee from his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, part 1 and part 2. You can clearly see how likable of a guy he is from these interviews and he does a great job with his comedic side.

Next up is the more hard-hitting Meet the Press interview with Tim Russert. I’m no fan of him and he IMO definitely and obviously leans liberal (I love the homosexual part where he says it’s an offense to millions of Americans, despite the fact that hundreds of millions more are not homosexual and agree 100% with Huckabee’s views), but it’s good to see how a candidate acts when hit with hard-questions and criticized face to face. This interview is in 3 parts.

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