Counting The Cost

Random thoughts on walking with Jesus in this turvy-topsy world

Got Heroes?

NBC’s ‘Heroes’ Far From Super

 

Written by Joy Robbins

 

 

            I have always been a sucker for superheroes – ever since I first saw Batman swoop across the Gotham skyline to nab the bad guys. Heroes represent the best part of our nature, and they make for great television. At least that’s what I was hoping for when I tuned in Monday night to watch NBC’s new series ‘Heroes’. Despite a great premise, good acting, and an intriguing storyline, the premiere episode left me feeling very disappointed. I had a hard time figuring out what ‘Heroes’ was missing, but I think I have put my finger on why NBC’s foray into the superhero genre never quite leaves the ground.

 

 

            ‘Heroes’ follows the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities. Some of these heroes include a cheerleader who is indestructible, an office drone who can bend the time-space continuum, an artist who can picture the future, and a man who believes he can fly. The idea for the show is definitely a winner. We all harbor a secret fantasy that one day, as we are going about our ordinary, hum-drum lives, we will somehow discover that we possess some exceptional gift that sets us far above the norm. We all want a chance to be a hero. I think that ‘Heroes’ plays to that deep-rooted desire within all of us, and I will be surprised if it doesn’t do very well with audiences.

 

 

            So, what is my beef with the show? The acting? The writing? The dialogue? Nope. I didn’t have a problem with anything the show contained – only with what it DIDN’T contain. The writers of ‘Heroes’ are content to leave explanations for the heroes’ super-abilities to the purely physical. For example, one of the main characters, Mohinder Suresh, attempts to explain the heroes’ paranormal experiences to another character. He explains that in each species, one creature is born more special than others – so that their unique DNA coding can propel their species to another evolutionary level. Ummmm…okay. It was explanations and philosophical statements such as these that left me with a dissatisfied feeling long after the show ended. Who wants to find out that they possess an extraordinary gift – only to be told that it has nothing to do with them, it could have happened to anyone, and they are merely the “winners” of an evolutionary lottery? No thanks.

 

 

            In the end, ‘Heroes’ left me blue because there was so much that it could have said – and didn’t. For instance, each one of us DOES have an extraordinary gift. Every member of the human race has the chance to have personal contact with the Creator of the whole universe, through His Son, Jesus Christ. We can, if we so choose, reach out and touch the Divine. I’ll take that over a tingling spider-sense any day! We are also each unique, but not because of some evolutionary sweepstakes we have no control over. The truth is that our Creator God carefully, intimately crafted each one of us from before the beginning of the universe. He twirled together our DNA with a specific plan and purpose in mind for each of us.

 

 

Most importantly of all, the Lord sent the ultimate Superhero, Jesus Christ, to our earth. He didn’t come to leap tall building with a single bound or run faster than a speeding bullet. No, our heroic Savior came to Earth to live, die, and rise again for our salvation. He came so that we would know how special, unique, and precious we are to the One who made us. His emblem is the Cross, where two thousand years ago He gave His life to save us from our sins. When we accept His salvation, we leave our ordinary, hum-drum lives behind and soar far above anything we could possibly imagine.  That, my friends, is a story worth telling.

 

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:39 | link | comments (2) |
heroes review

Metal in the Mainstream, Part 5

Lights in a Loud Place

Written by Adam R. Holz

 

From Plugged In Online

 

 

Metal in the Mainstream (Part 5 of 6)
Plugged In Online's in-depth series on heavy metal music examines its history, subgenres, performers, fans, messages and influence on us all.

 

 

Here's a 72-point headline: Not everything in the metal world is uniformly dreary and depressing. Those messages are definitely in the majority, but a few bands do swim upstream against the prevailing current. They offer songs that encourage perseverance and hope instead of despair and nihilism—even if their music itself is every bit as hard.

 

 

Christian Metal Meshes With the Mainstream
Once upon a time, contemporary Christian music existed in a wholly separate, parallel universe that rarely intersected with the rest of the world. This was especially true for Christian metal, which arose as an alternative to secular material in the 1980s. When I began substituting Christian bands for secular ones late in that decade, artists such as Whitecross, X-Sinner, Bride and Shout enjoyed a wide following among Christian believers but were virtually unknown outside that scene.

 

 

Twenty years later, there are arguably more Christian metal bands vying for fans' attention than ever before. Unlike in the '80s, however, these bands are often on mainstream labels, tour with their secular counterparts and enjoy radio airplay on secular rock stations. Case in point: The hardcore band Underoath recently debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's album chart—an unprecedented feat for a Christian band. Others, such as P.O.D., Still Remains and As I Lay Dying, have also generated a fiercely loyal fan base that transcends the old Christian/secular divide.

 

 

Underoath's Define the Great Line exemplifies the paradoxical tension between brokenness and faith that's common in Christian hardcore. The perennial metal themes of alienation and isolation are definitely present. But they're intersected by songs that also include moments of hope and confession. A self-reliant man, for example, realizes his need for God on "Moving for the Sake of Motion" ("I don't think I can fix this/... But that's the problem/We never speak to Him"). "You're Ever So Inviting" rejects self-deception ("There's no room for cheating and being yourself") and echoes Psalm 34:8 ("Taste and see/I swear I know what's good").

 

 

Underoath's frontman, Spencer Chamberlain, recently talked about how personal struggles inform this tension between light and dark in the band's songs. "A lot of [our latest album] is about my struggle as a human with drug problems and emotional problems and fighting yourself and figuring out, really, how you're going to change," he told Alternative Press magazine. "But many people will be bummed out because I've been struggling with drug problems on-and-off since I can remember, even recently—really recently. I don't believe in lying to people. Being honest, at least I know I could help somebody. As dark and twisted as the songs are, they have that element of hope in their heart, that there was a God, and the only way for me to get out was to hold onto His hand. A lot of people may feel that they've done too much, or it's too late, but that's never the case."

 

 

Despite not being "restricted" by the same CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) boundaries his metal ancestors were, Chamberlain doesn't seem to want to dismiss his failures. He wants to make things right for himself and for his fans. Bandmate Tim McTague agrees that "when you're in a position like this, you need to set an example, and it needs to be good." You won't hear the likes of Slayer saying that.

 

 

Secular Metal Swerves Off the Beaten Path
Not every band with positive things to say can be classified Christian, of course. One that rejects despair and fatalism goes by the ominous name Killswitch Engage. Given such a moniker, I thought this influential metalcore quintet from Westfield, Mass., would be morbidly focused on death. On the contrary, Killswitch's latest offering, The End of the Heartache, is saturated with obvious spiritual allusions.

 

 

For example, "A Bid Farewell" exhorts, "Turn from deceit, the love of self is death." Similarly, "Take This Oath" instructs listeners to let go of self-destructive ways and try for transcendence: "Let us forsake ... all the things that lead to our demise/Open your eyes, see the divine." And in a genre so short on hope, the song "Hope Is ..." offers a rallying cry to hold on: "Hope is not lost/Weep no more, we will prevail/Grieve no more, we will prevail/This is our moment/Will you stand with me?"

 

 

This album simply was not what I was expecting. A bit more research revealed that three of the five band members grew up in Christian homes—thus the Scripture-influenced themes on this album are no accident. Guitarist Joel Stroetzel said in a 2004 interview, "I myself, Adam and Howard were brought up Christian but [were] never really heavily religious or anything like that. I mean, [we] definitely don't try to be blatantly like a Christian band or spread that kind of message. But I think it's pretty obvious if you read into the lyrics that there's some of that stuff going on [and] coming from that kind of background."

 

 

A Not-So-Morbid Mr. Mustaine
Megadeth is another group I never expected to see on the positive side of the metal ledger. But in the last several years, the Megadeth story has taken some surprising turns.

 

 

Late 2003 saw the release of The System Has Failed, the 10th album from Megadeth—the iconic thrash band fronted by the incendiary singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine. And it introduced the world to several recent plot twists that have made Mustaine's already-interesting story even more dramatic. At rehab in January 2002, Mustaine fell asleep in a chair and suffered a nerve injury in his left arm. Doctors gave him little hope that he'd ever play guitar again. Mustaine responded by announcing the death of Megadeth.

 

 

Then Mustaine found Jesus. And after a year of therapy, he relearned guitar and roared into the studio again. Though still a little rough around the edges (his language is still peppered with occasional profanity, for example), the guitarist has not been shy about the role his newfound faith plays in his life. He told one guitar magazine that God had to touch that which was most important to him—his guitar-playing—to get his attention. He's also talked freely about how his faith is changing his priorities and motivating him to be a better husband and father.

 

 

One of the most personal and theological songs on The System Has Failed (which debuted at No. 18) is "My Kingdom," which lays out the singer's testimony, of sorts. The first two verses describe Mustaine's changed allegiance: "The flag I once planted as a King, I abandoned/And now I reclaim this banner by God, my sword, and my name/... Drink from the chalice and be reborn/And the land with me, it will change and transform."

 

 

Further verses poetically detail spiritual truths Mustaine has learned the hard way: "No man who is false can win in combat against the truth/When he lies, he murders some part of the world/We must find what was lost/… I never knew how empty my soul was until it was refilled." The song finishes with Mustaine relishing redemption as he sings, "I have lived through others for far too long/And carried my guilt, my causes, my sins/I hope in the hereafter when I owe no more to the future/That I can just be a man."

 

 

Piercing the Darkness
The presence of bands such as Underoath, Killswitch Engage and the reborn Megadeth means ¬faith, hope, love and truth now compete with nihilism on the heavy metal stage. But it's important to note that competing doesn't equal winning. At best, these exceptions to the generally despairing thematic trend in metal represent flashes of light in a very dark (loud) place.

 

 

And even while gravitating toward the plusses of bands coming from Christian perspectives (or at least positive ones), it's important to stay engaged critically with their lyrics and to pay attention to the worldview they communicate. (Not everything in Megadeth's newest CD can be classified as good news.) Some bands' convictions change from album to album, others between tracks one and three. And thankfully, some hold firm.

 

 

Next week we'll explore a case study in discernment as we look carefully at the new album from Stone Sour, a rising metal band fronted by Slipknot's frontman, Corey Taylor.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

In the September issue of Plugged In magazine, subscribers will find our article "Christian Metal: Why parents and teens remain divided over hardcore music."

 

posted by: Jrobbins at 15:20 | link | comments |
metal in the mainstream part 5

The Privilege (and Right) To Pray

 

'See You At The Pole' on Wednesday

 

By Allie Martin

September 26, 2006

 

 

(AgapePress) - A law firm that protects the constitutional rights of Christians says public school officials nationwide should be aware that students have a constitutional right to pray during "See You At The Pole" observances on Wednesday.

 

 

Tomorrow (Sept. 27) millions of students will gather around their school flagpoles for SYATP rallies. The students will pray for their schools, fellow classmates, teachers, the nation, and the world. The now annual observance began in 1990 when a group of high school students in Burleson, Texas, gathered spontaneously around their school flagpole to pray for their classmates who did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

 

Students around the country have typically met with resistance from school officials who are not educated about constitutional rights. Anita Staver is president of Liberty Counsel, a firm that has defended many of those students -- and encourages others who encounter resistance to contact the firm immediately. She explains that students do not lose their religious freedoms when they step onto school grounds.

 

 

"The students certainly have the constitutional right to gather around their flagpoles and pray together, and we just encourage the students to do this," says Staver, who emphasizes the observance is neither parent- nor teacher-led. "Certainly teachers and parents can go in other places and gather together and pray, but this is specifically a student-initiated, student-led event -- and we think it's wonderful that the students will be gathering together and revival can break out across the land led by these youth," she says.

 

 

The rallies, which annually number in the thousands and typically occur early in the day, before classes begin, fall well within constitutional guidelines, adds Staver. And that, she stresses, is something school administrators need to know.

 

 

"There is a lot of ignorance [regarding students' religious rights], especially on behalf of school officials," she says. "And sometimes the school officials have to take affirmative action in order to educate themselves about the students' First Amendment rights, rather than just acting out of bias or ignorance."

 

 

The U.S. Department of Education's "Guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools" states that students have a right to take part in SYATP as a protected act of religious expression.

 

 

The theme for this year's "See You At The Pole" observance is "Be Still. Know God." The event's official website (http://www.syatp.org) encourages students to submit online reports about what happened at their school.

 

 

Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:15 | link | comments |
see you at the pole 2006

30 Days of Prayer

     Last Saturday, Muslims around the world began the Islamic month of Ramadan, a time when Muslims fast during the day and spend time together to worship and contemplate.    Ramadan is an important time for the Islamic community, and it is also a great time for Christians to come together and pray for their Muslim friends and neighbors.     Christians can pray anytime, of course, since salvation in Jesus Christ gives us the ability to have a personal, moment-by-moment relationship with God our Father.      Prayer is one of our greatest blessings and the primary way our Lord has given us to impact our world for Him.      It is SO exciting to hear the amazing things God is doing in the Islamic world to bring Muslims to the Savior, Jesus Christ!      The next 30 days can be a great time to focus our prayers more specifically that Muslims, who are earnestly trying to seek God during this time, would be able to find Him through His Son Jesus.      There are so many great resouces for Christians who want to take up this challenge to pray and witness during Ramadan, and I have linked them below and also added them to my links on the left for the next month.        If you are a Christian who would like to take on the challenge of 30 days of prayer, please feel free to leave a comment on this post - I am always so encouraged to know when other Christians are joining with me to pray!!    --Joy

 

Why Should Christians Pray During Ramadan?      Click HERE.

The Christian Prayer Guide to Ramadan Blog:         Click HERE.

30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World:                    Click HERE.

Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? Click HERE.

More Information About Islam:                                     Click HERE.

30 Days of Fire Youth Site:                                           Click HERE.

Find Out Why Some Muslims Left Islam to Follow Jesus:  Click HERE.

Daily Prayer Topics During Ramadan:                        Click HERE.

posted by: Jrobbins at 14:51 | link | comments |
30 days of prayer

Radical? Yup.

Wow.      It's not every morning I get to stumble out of bed, check my e-mail, and discover that I have been accused by a media personality of being as dangerous for America as a terrorist.      Top o' the mornin' to ya!      After I settled down a bit, I wasn't too bothered by those hate-filled remarks.      Unlike some people, when I or my God is insulted, I don't have to run around getting angry or violent.      My God doesn't need me to defend Him (thankfully!).      I just wished that someone who was a true representative of Christianity (by that I mean someone who follows Jesus as much as it is possible in this lifetime, by their actions not just their words) could have responded to Ms. O'Donnell's diatribe.     Then, lo and behold, I checked my email again today, only to discover that someone HAD written a rebuttal.      Dave Burchett has a blog called "Confessions of a Bad Christian" and he has written an amazing article (posted below) about what true Christianity is and why it could never be as "bad for America" as terrorism.      

-Joy (proud to be a radical Christian since 2005  )

From CrossWalk.com

Confessing my "Radical Agenda" to Rosie O'Donnell

Written by Dave Burchett

 

When I was younger you knew exactly when a celebrity's career had peaked and had begun to spiral slowly downward. That career reversal could be duly noted when a one-time big star was booked on The Love Boat.

 

So it is with some reluctance that I address the brouhaha surrounding the comments by talk show host Rosie O'Donnell. I am reluctant to discuss this because I think that Rosie is in the Love Boat phase of her career. To be fair, she has forged a career that garners her national attention. My career has made me a household name only in my household. Nonetheless, her comments conveyed a common misconception (make that "lie") about the "agenda" of Christians in this country. Here is what the always genteel Rosie had to say during a recent episode of The View (see full story here):