so, you may be wondering why am i posting a holiday video when the november of 2011 is only five days old? well, our merchandisers and advertisers and promoters are already telling us that it is about the time to start spending money on all of those things that we didn’t know that we needed. if consumerism can move early, then so can compassion and the conspiring to use our money for more productive and holistic intentions. so watch this. think. pray. conspire.

this was an incredibly moving documentary to watch, and i am thankful that i saw it. i think it leaves me wanting to know more about how i can affirm to everyone the beauty that they possess inside and out. i am so thankful for the diversity of God’s creation, and how all of the tones and shades and colors that we possess bring glory to God!

(Source: fuckyeahblackbeauties, via lovewithoutdissimulation)

(Source: thissurrealthing, via lovewithoutdissimulation)

I love moments where I feel small.

…because sometimes our freedoms enslave us…

what we leave behind

while i was at work today, a small boy pointed at me and said, “when i be you, i want to be like you.” his mother and i kind of looked at each other and figured out that he basically said that he wanted to be like me when he is my age. while the mother encouraged him that when he was my age, he would, indeed. have a job and be grown up, i was honestly bothered by the idea of wanting to be like me. the more that i would try to encourage the boy that when he grew up he would be himself and not like me, the more he would continue to insist that he wanted to be like me. 

this interaction got me thinking about a lot of things regarding our current culture. much like this young child, there are a lot of people who focus their individual energies on being like someone that they admire. and older generations derive value from what they can pass on to younger generations.

this can be a good thing. i, personally speaking, was inspired by my high school chorus teacher, the amazing jan blumenthal, and that shaped me with a passion for music that i have today. likewise, there are many who have been inspired by teachers, scientists, poets, and thinkers to pursue a similar path and build upon what has been accomplished by their mentors.

however, i have seen a darker side to this in recent years. with the rise of reality television, there is been an over-saturation of famous anti-heroes on the market whose questionable lifestyles have been portrayed and shaped as alluring and even laudable. television programs aimed at younger demographics have been overrun with fashionistas and celebutantes whose lives are one big glamous poolside party or shopping spree. magazines and books are filled with ideas of how you can have (insert body part or clothing style) like (insert vain celebrity or musician). and these are the “role models” that are branded upon this generation.

the aftermath of this rising “new normal” is that girls are left comparing themselves with some popsicle stick dressed in versace with perfectly airbrushed everything that has been advertised as the ideal woman. on the other side, boys are left with narcissistic pro-athletes with drug habits, emotional handicaps, and rape charges as the portrait of a “real man”. this is unacceptable to me.

it seems so easy to steer young, impressionable minds towards a particular path. there is a proverb in the Bible that says, “train a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.” (provers 22:6) if this is true, then we are held accountable for the world that we leave behind for future generations, and how we have shown them to live in it.

so this, in my mind, begs some questions. what image are we portraying to younger generations? what message, both spoken and unspoken, are we sending about what the wisest way should be to negotiate through this world? what are do we value, and should it be valuable or shown as valuable at all? are we showing them choices, behaviors and perspectives that give life and respect to themselves and to others, or are we displaying indulgent addictions that inspires vanity, selfishness, and greedy isolation?

think about this.

the “holiday” debate

this will probably be one of the most potentially unintentionally offensive posts that i have ever made on any blog anywhere. not in that what i feel that i have to say is offensive, but in that other people may take strong offense to what i say. but, i feel that it must be said.

i really try to love people as best as i can as a human. i try to be respectful and empathetic of how people feel and where their passions lie. but i have to admit that i am growing increasingly aggravated by Christians who vocalize the opinion that just because some people refer to this time of the year as the “winter holidays” and say “happy holidays” instead of “merry christmas”, that Christianity is persecuted in america.

first of all, the commonly used slogan is nonsensical to me. “keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas.” what?? what is that even saying? no one is removing Christ from Christmas. no one is going around saying “hey, happy mas, everybody!!” like Christ is being removed as the central figure for those who celebrate the sacred history of Christmas. this slogan is an illogical misrepresentation of the problem that some Christians are trying to vocalize. which leads to my next point…

secondly, the issue that is being made of how some people choose to say “happy holidays” instead of saying “merry christmas” is ridiculous. like it or not, there are multiple belief systems in america even if you only believe in one of them. to say “happy holidays” is to be respectful of the fact that there are people who may celebrate a different holiday or have a different emphasis during that holiday than you do. for instance, hanukkah has been around for years as a jewish holiday that occurs during this time of year. some people celebrate kwanzaa during this time of year. other people do not affiliate with any particular religious faith, but still take the time to be with family and exchange gifts. regardless of the particulars of what any person believes, “happy holidays” is a way of giving a well-wish that is a blessing to all people during this time of year that has multiple events of celebration. by saying “happy holidays”, no one is excluding Jesus or persecuting Christians for believing we believe, but it is including other beliefs together with the Christian narrative in a nation that allows freedom of belief and what is believed in.

thirdly, and most importantly, as i referenced in the last paragraph, some Christians believe that saying “happy holiday” instead of “merry christmas” is a form of persecution against the Christian church. this is, at best, tragically comical, and at worst, blatantly ignorant and insulting to the church (as in, the multinational representation of the Body of Christ) itself. to say that this is persecution is a slap in the face to the Christians, historically and internationally, that have died for their faith. i am not talking about being put out for not feeling like their faith is number one in december. i am talking about being brutally assaulted and then murdered for confessing Christ.

this, for me, speaks to the national myopia that the church has become entangled in. we have been caught up in the “America is #1!!!!” rhetoric for so long that we even believe that our persecution is somehow “better” than what happens in other parts of the world! we think we are persecuted when someone picks on us for wearing a Christian t-shirt (been there, done that, had the t-shirt). we think we are persecuted when someone gives a general holiday encouragement instead of a specifically Christian encouragement during december.

let me make this clear: 9.5 out of 10 american christians (myself included) know NOTHING about what it really means to be persecuted for their faith practice. NOTHING. the reality is that the church in america lives in luxury, and yet copious amounts of complaint come forth every december because “holiday” is used instead of “Christmas” in a december salutation. that is utter nonsense.

there are Christ-followers in other parts of the world who are imprisoned, beaten, and executed for confessing Christ as Savior. until your blood is poised to be spilled with your life facing erasure by external force, or until you face the danger of physical harm for believing in Christ, please don’t call yourself persecuted or call Christ disrespected. if the worst that you go through is feeling put-out because of what comes down to word choice, then you do not know the meaning of the word “persecution”.

i know that if any Christians are reading this, some of them are thinking something along the lines of any combination of these three statements, “but (1) this is AMERICA! (2)this is a Christian nation (3) with Christian forefathers!”

(1 and 3) yes, this is america, the self-proclaimed “land of the free” with a bill of rights and constitution that guarantee personal liberties and the freedom the believe what you want to believe, Christian or not Christian. whether you like it or not, there are people residing in our neighborhoods, our suburbs, our universities, and our cities who are not Christian. and their beliefs and holidays are free to be expressed and respected and celebrated as well. not just Christmas. whatever the spiritual roots of our nations beliefs and practices were, there is within that framework the freedom to choose to believe and celebrate what you will without one being dominant over the other.

(2 and 3) this could almost be a separate entry in and of itself, but i will try to consense this to a paragraph. yes, this is america, the self-proclaimed “land of the free”, but a Christian nation? i think not, especially if you follow Jesus’ instruction that you will know a tree by the fruit that it produces. america is the number one exporter and sustainer of pornography, an entire industry that objectifies and exploits the human body for profit based on one of our most sacred and God-given drives: the drive for intimacy and connection. most of our clothes sold in domestic markets are made overseas by under-aged workers who get paid what would be considered spare change to us in a dangerous, unregulated work environment. obesity and heart-disease is rampant due to our gluttony and obsession with food while children in third world communities (some of them even within our own borders) face malnutrition and starvation. our corporations and governing bodies are teeming with corruption, greed, ambition, and malpractice where people are percentages to be used and manipulated and branded. there is nothing biblical about ANY of these common practices, and yet we still call america a Christian nation? i think not. whatever the spiritual roots of our nations beliefs and practices were, we have deviated from them wildly.

in closing, stop lamenting some alleged “disrespect” of Christ by Christ’s name being “removed” from Christmas. show that the name of Christ is written on your heart and on your conscience by loving your neighbor of ANY belief and ANY holiday practice. do good to them this season. if Christ is the root of your “holiday” (or “holy day”) then show that you belong to Christ and believe in His teachings by your demeanor, your compassion, and your integrity, not by your complaint and your polarizing rhetoric. serve and offer yourself and your heart to the people around you as Christ did, and don’t seek to be served by seeking to be the most important holiday of december.

as a man, this makes me sick to my stomach. i can barely fathom what this would do to me if i were a woman.

(via encourageous)

my name is franklin, and i am post-defining.

this post is going to be a bit more of a rant than the other posts that i make that…well…still carry the essence of rant musk to them. but that is what this particular blog does for me. it is an expression of the various thoughts that i have about church and culture that well up within me. i spill them out here so that my head does not eventually explode and take about a quarter of the neighborhood that i am in with it.

today, i started reading a book made by a rather well-known Christian author who has become the forefront of a particular segment of the church known as the ‘emergent church’. i will not bore you with the definition of what this movement is. all you need to know for the purposes of this rant is that this branch exists.

the point is that i made it about a page in a half into the introduction before i became so aggravated that i had to put the book down. i just could not continue reading it.

why?

well, this book is symptomatic (VERY symptomatic) of a growing trend in the modern church to excessively define and label the particular undercurrent movements that exist within the church itself. within one paragraph of the introduction, the author had used the description “post-__(fill in the blank)__” FIVE TIMES. it was ridiculous. postmodern. post-liberal. post-evangelical. post-familiar. post-perspective. and this is on top of an entire book based off of all the various definitions this particular author places on his faith. and these definitions saturate modern Christendom. missional. post-protestant. charismatic. incarnational. emergent. fundamentalist. mystical.

what a load. what a complete waste of time.

am i harsh and judgmental? probably. later on, i will probably wish that i had waited until i was less aggravated to post this.

but this is my point.

i feel that this overzealous labeling has multiple roots.

1) the church is trying to reach as many people with as many views as possible with as many choices as it can biblically (and sometimes NOT-so-biblically) muster.

2) there are so many ideas from so many people about so many ways that the church needs to be operating in so many dimensions and all of those ways need to be communicated so there has to be a name for it.

3) deep down, we are not sure what we believe anymore, and thus we are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. (james 1:6)

the fact of the matter is that the more you label and label and label, the more you divide. labels ultimately segregate and polarize more than they unite. which is why it is so important that if we do define ourselves as Christians, it is by the one thing that matters most:

JESUS CHRIST.

“but we preach Christ crucified…” -the apostle paul

whatever we do as followers of Jesus: the Messiah, the Saviour, the King, it must be all about Him. my fear is that the beauty and the wonder of the gospel itself may get lost in all of our frantic efforts to define our movements and our counter-movements. it is all about Christ or it is all about nothing that matters in the end. i could care less if you are post-________ or emergent or calvinist or evangelical or charismatic or protestant or catholic or whatever. it is the banner of Christ that we rally under. it is His wings that cover us. and they cover us all.

forget your movements. come to the cross. be made new. then bring others to Him.

the cry of a generation lost in corruption, materialism, and vanity…