Influence of Christian Rock

I had no idea...I, well, I made an observation a while back, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I was over at another blog ("Bitter Sweet Life") and made a joke about Larry Norman's "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music." I decided to look up information about the man. If Wikipedia is to be believed, Mr. Norman has been influential in music, not just Christian music. He is, apparently, very gifted as a musician and that has been the source of his influence. He has protected that gift and used it, solely, for God. Amen.

Anyhow...I have noticed that if you find a Christian artist that has a distinct style, you can find a secular artist with a similar style. Often (not always) the Christian gets there first. Such is the case of one Jennifer Knapp. (LOVE her, btw.) Her style is somewhat similar to (though, uh, cleaner than, in multiple ways) Jewel's. Well, Jenn isn't singing anymore, at least not producing records. And Jewel has continued on. But Jenn got there, slightly ahead of Jewel.

I don't know why this is important to me. I guess that it's just to say that we Christians have gifts and talents comparable to that of the world at large (well, why not? We're people too!), but we choose to use them for different gains, mostly.

I think that is why I take on debates with secularists so readily. It is important for me to know and to proclaim that Christians have reasons to believe, that we are entitled to our faith and that the faith we have is not entirely blind. It is blind, in some areas, and that is why it holds such great value, but we are not intellectually stumped, nor mentally impeded because we choose to believe in a God others choose not to see.

Regi G

Needing Something

I've been struggling in school lately. I'm not talking having some difficulty with some topics, but just really struggling to get my head on straight. I'm not sure what it's been that has been my problem. Well, I do know that it started off a difficult semester, but that doesn't seem to explain the stuff I'm going through.

On the one hand, I think I understand the stuff I'm studying. But then, I totally flop on the tests. I can't say this has never happened before, but I can say that it's never happened in such a way that I couldn't fix it. I just have not seemed to be able to fix this problem. The harder I worked, the worse it seemed to get.

The weekend before last, I got the results from the previous test (Friday) and took that evening and Saturday off from studying. Didn't crack a book. Instead, I prayed.

Well, since then, I've tried to pray, but haven't been consistent with times and such, but I do pray in an unstructured way.

I had a test on Monday. We'll see how I did. I hope well, but if not, I'm not going to sweat it. If I fail this one class, I'll retake it. I don't want to have to do that, but...to God be the glory, regardless of if I like the outcome or not.

My problem is that I keep making this about me. "It means I'm stupid." Blah, blah, blah. I'm not stupid. I have the same amount of brain that got me here. But, I'm only as successful at getting As on tests as God will allow me to be. Perhaps there is a problem within me. Why couldn't it have been straightened out before? Maybe I would not have been as receptive. I don't know, but I do know that I am a mere human on the face of a small planet, located in some spot in the great wide universe, that we barely understand.

I will do what I can, and not sweat the rest.

Regi G

Bumper-sticker Science

I had to run to school for a lab, which is a longish drive with lots of traffic. On the way home, we got stuck behind a vehicle with a bumper sticker that said, "The end of faith is the beginning of evolution," or something very similar.

I had several thoughts. Firstly, "Oh, man! I forgot to wash my hands after leaving the lab! Oh, yeah, I have hand sanitizer in my bag."

After that, I thought about the bumper sticker. At first, I thought and said (which are often simultaneous with me), "What if I don't want to evolve? I might turn into some scaly reptilian creature." My luck would dictate that I not become something cool like in X-men.

I then turned more serious. I said, "So, if people still have faith, there has been no evolution, and therefore, evolution is false."

I couldn't sharpen my debate skills at the time, because I was "preachin' to the choir," but somehow, I don't think the driver would desire to debate with me, at least, not for long.

I want to close my saying that I have been though some difficult times lately, and I have made a number of mistakes--some very big ones. I still struggle with not making the same mistakes again, so I'm not writing as someone who doesn't know what it's like to fail.

I write in berry pink but that doesn't mean I'm a sweet, demure, little lady. I try to be polite and respectful in all my associations. Some may think I'm sweet, but I have issues, like anyone else. I often have to remind myself that my failings aren't any worse than anyone else's, but that also means I'm no better.

I don't really know how these two topics relate, but just thought I'd confess without specifying my exact struggles, so that others know that I'm not trying to purport that I am, or any Christian is, perfect. We're not, though that is one of our goals. Another is to share the grace we have found.

I hope you are doing well.

RG