Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Musical geek out moment!!
Greetings and Salutations everyone.
Was not even planning on coming on here today, but came across this video on youtube. This guy is AWESOME!!! His name is Aram Bedrosian, and the instrument he is playing here is not the electric guitar, but the electric Bass!!! This is normally a rhythm instrument, used to lay down a baseline, or set the groove. Yet he plays it like a guitar!! Check it out:
EXCELSIOR........ and God Bless.
Was not even planning on coming on here today, but came across this video on youtube. This guy is AWESOME!!! His name is Aram Bedrosian, and the instrument he is playing here is not the electric guitar, but the electric Bass!!! This is normally a rhythm instrument, used to lay down a baseline, or set the groove. Yet he plays it like a guitar!! Check it out:
EXCELSIOR........ and God Bless.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Professional Wrestling RULES!!!!!!
Greetings and Salutations, BROTHER!!
One of my greatest, and longest lasting loves, is professional wrestling. I can't get enough of it. I never seem to outgrow it. It remains one of my great passions.
The question is, why?
I am a 41 year old man. WHy do I keep watching it? I mean, these guys are not really fighting.
These guys don't really hate each other.
I DO know pro wrestling is "fake" right?
Scripted?
Choreographed?
Planned out?
Predetermined?
Well, YES!! However, if I gave it up for the reasons given above, then by necessity, I'd have to give up watching movies, cartoons, reality tv, etc, as those are also all predetermined, choreographed, scripted, and "fake".
Pro wrestling is not a sport, and it doesn't claim to be. It is sports "entertainment". It is not a competition. It's goal is to entertain. There are story lines and plot twists along the way. It is similar to the Walking Dead, or Lost, or any other tv show, in that it is about the characters more then anything.
As a child, it was my escape. It defined right and wrong, good and bad, and gave me a sense of being. It was an occasion for fellowship, as many were the times when I would have friends over to watch a pay per view. And it gave us hours of discussions as to who was better then who, and why.
Years later, I even got to be a part of pro wrestling, becoming a good guy manager named Handsome Johnny Angel, and a bad guy manager named Johnny BigTime.
I know people look down on this art form, and on those of us who love it. They shake their heads and wonder why.
Well, whats the point in trying to explain?
After all, as magician and mentalist Joseph Dunninger once said (and pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett in the video below) "For those who believe, no explanation is needed. for those who DON'T believe, no explanation will do."
If you guys want to learn a little bit of the "why" that attracts us fans to pro wrestling, check out the video below. It is a very light hearted and fun documentary on pro wrestling's history and modern appeal.
EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
One of my greatest, and longest lasting loves, is professional wrestling. I can't get enough of it. I never seem to outgrow it. It remains one of my great passions.
The question is, why?
I am a 41 year old man. WHy do I keep watching it? I mean, these guys are not really fighting.
These guys don't really hate each other.
I DO know pro wrestling is "fake" right?
Scripted?
Choreographed?
Planned out?
Predetermined?
Well, YES!! However, if I gave it up for the reasons given above, then by necessity, I'd have to give up watching movies, cartoons, reality tv, etc, as those are also all predetermined, choreographed, scripted, and "fake".
Pro wrestling is not a sport, and it doesn't claim to be. It is sports "entertainment". It is not a competition. It's goal is to entertain. There are story lines and plot twists along the way. It is similar to the Walking Dead, or Lost, or any other tv show, in that it is about the characters more then anything.
As a child, it was my escape. It defined right and wrong, good and bad, and gave me a sense of being. It was an occasion for fellowship, as many were the times when I would have friends over to watch a pay per view. And it gave us hours of discussions as to who was better then who, and why.
Years later, I even got to be a part of pro wrestling, becoming a good guy manager named Handsome Johnny Angel, and a bad guy manager named Johnny BigTime.
I know people look down on this art form, and on those of us who love it. They shake their heads and wonder why.
Well, whats the point in trying to explain?
After all, as magician and mentalist Joseph Dunninger once said (and pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett in the video below) "For those who believe, no explanation is needed. for those who DON'T believe, no explanation will do."
If you guys want to learn a little bit of the "why" that attracts us fans to pro wrestling, check out the video below. It is a very light hearted and fun documentary on pro wrestling's history and modern appeal.
EXCELSIOR....... and God Bless.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Catholic Apologetics: Being Born Again.
Greetings and Salutations everyone.
It is interesting to me the many ways people view the term "Born Again". I hear things as "Accepting Jesus into your heart" or "Accepting Jesus your personal Lord and Savior." When I question them, they argue that it was what they were taught, and that it is what the bible says. Interestingly enough, the phrase "personal lord and savior" is not even IN the bible. Of course, when it comes to being "Born Again", I get referred to John 3:3, in which Jesus says:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
However, this is where it ends. I can't count the times I have been told, in response to my "Born Again" query, to read Jesus 3:3 ONLY. Just that one verse. But, if we were looking for the truth, why would we only read one verse and make an entire sub-faith out of it? Let us read on, shall we? After all, context does matter.
John 3:4-5,
"4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Ok, so these were Jesus' words. Except a man be born of water AND spirit. In other words, BOTH need to happen. Water AND spirit. Why did he not just say "Nicodemus, no worries. Just accept me into your heart, and we are good. That's all it takes." Jesus never says that. He says we have to be reborn through water and spirit. This is something all Catholics do. It is called Baptism. This of course means, according to JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF, and according to the BIBLE ITSELF, all Catholics are Born Again. Interesting, no? Here's Steve Ray discussing this very same topic, in a very similar situation:
Until next time, EXCELSIOR........ and God Bless.
It is interesting to me the many ways people view the term "Born Again". I hear things as "Accepting Jesus into your heart" or "Accepting Jesus your personal Lord and Savior." When I question them, they argue that it was what they were taught, and that it is what the bible says. Interestingly enough, the phrase "personal lord and savior" is not even IN the bible. Of course, when it comes to being "Born Again", I get referred to John 3:3, in which Jesus says:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
However, this is where it ends. I can't count the times I have been told, in response to my "Born Again" query, to read Jesus 3:3 ONLY. Just that one verse. But, if we were looking for the truth, why would we only read one verse and make an entire sub-faith out of it? Let us read on, shall we? After all, context does matter.
John 3:4-5,
"4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
Ok, so these were Jesus' words. Except a man be born of water AND spirit. In other words, BOTH need to happen. Water AND spirit. Why did he not just say "Nicodemus, no worries. Just accept me into your heart, and we are good. That's all it takes." Jesus never says that. He says we have to be reborn through water and spirit. This is something all Catholics do. It is called Baptism. This of course means, according to JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF, and according to the BIBLE ITSELF, all Catholics are Born Again. Interesting, no? Here's Steve Ray discussing this very same topic, in a very similar situation:
Until next time, EXCELSIOR........ and God Bless.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Catholic Apologetics: Sola Scriptura (Scripture only)
Greetings and Salutations everyone.
Today I'd like to discuss an interesting situation that has arisen in the Christian world.
Of course, I make it out to seem like it is a recent situation.
Haha.
No, it is hundreds of years in the making, but it baffles me that it still exists. The notion of Sola Scriptura, or of using only what is in the bible. This is an interesting thing because it is an incomplete understanding of Jesus and Christianity. Think about this, Jesus walked from town to town, village to village, in a tireless trek to spread the word of the Lord.
I wonder how worn his bible was.
Of course, he had NO bible. His teachings were oral. When he ascended into heaven, as all his apostles were looking up at him, he did not yell down to them "Hey, guys, go read the bible to everyone!! And make sure they read them too!" No, he told them to go out and preach his Gospel, to TALK about it. He did not leave us a book at the spot where he had been standing right before he ascended. He left us eleven people to learn from. So this notion of the bible being the sole source of our faith is clearly disputed by that very same bible. A big part of Catholic condemnation is our adherence to Tradition AS WELL as scripture. It is viewed as man made, silly, non biblical, blasphemous even. Yet, that very same bible tells us to
"stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter."
This, of course, is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:15.
How very interesting that those who claim Catholics can not be real Christians because they follow traditions instead of just the scriptures missed this verse WITHIN THOSE VERY SAME SCRIPTURES.
Another interesting fact about Sola Scriptura is that no where in the bible does it direct us to solely read scriptures. It does tell us to read them, of course, but no where does it say that they are the be all and end all of our faith. How can it be? If it were, then we miss out on so much. I mean, think of all the deeds Jesus did that were not recorded! What of them? Are they not important? According to John 21:25
"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
There is no way the bible could capture everything, and no one can know it captured everything that was important. Our faith is like a three legged table. It is held up by The spoken Word of God, the written Word of God, and the Traditions of God. We as Catholics have many traditions that we observe, and interestingly enough for my Sola Scriptura friends who argue that this is wrong, this is found and approved in the scriptures themselves.
Matthew 16:19
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
This was told to Peter at Caesarea Philippi. These traditions that we Catholics "made up" are bound in heaven as well, according to scripture. Jesus gave Peter, and his descendants, the authority, and more importantly, the responsibility to govern his church. The church has the keys to the kingdom. It has the authority to evolve the church and the traditions within it. This, again, is according to scripture. See, we Catholics stand on all three legs of the Christian faith. It is the only way. Take one leg away (as many of done) and the table collapses.
Well, that's it for now. Until next time,
EXCELSIOR.........and God Bless.
Today I'd like to discuss an interesting situation that has arisen in the Christian world.
Of course, I make it out to seem like it is a recent situation.
Haha.
No, it is hundreds of years in the making, but it baffles me that it still exists. The notion of Sola Scriptura, or of using only what is in the bible. This is an interesting thing because it is an incomplete understanding of Jesus and Christianity. Think about this, Jesus walked from town to town, village to village, in a tireless trek to spread the word of the Lord.
I wonder how worn his bible was.
Of course, he had NO bible. His teachings were oral. When he ascended into heaven, as all his apostles were looking up at him, he did not yell down to them "Hey, guys, go read the bible to everyone!! And make sure they read them too!" No, he told them to go out and preach his Gospel, to TALK about it. He did not leave us a book at the spot where he had been standing right before he ascended. He left us eleven people to learn from. So this notion of the bible being the sole source of our faith is clearly disputed by that very same bible. A big part of Catholic condemnation is our adherence to Tradition AS WELL as scripture. It is viewed as man made, silly, non biblical, blasphemous even. Yet, that very same bible tells us to
"stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter."
This, of course, is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:15.
How very interesting that those who claim Catholics can not be real Christians because they follow traditions instead of just the scriptures missed this verse WITHIN THOSE VERY SAME SCRIPTURES.
Another interesting fact about Sola Scriptura is that no where in the bible does it direct us to solely read scriptures. It does tell us to read them, of course, but no where does it say that they are the be all and end all of our faith. How can it be? If it were, then we miss out on so much. I mean, think of all the deeds Jesus did that were not recorded! What of them? Are they not important? According to John 21:25
"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
There is no way the bible could capture everything, and no one can know it captured everything that was important. Our faith is like a three legged table. It is held up by The spoken Word of God, the written Word of God, and the Traditions of God. We as Catholics have many traditions that we observe, and interestingly enough for my Sola Scriptura friends who argue that this is wrong, this is found and approved in the scriptures themselves.
Matthew 16:19
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
This was told to Peter at Caesarea Philippi. These traditions that we Catholics "made up" are bound in heaven as well, according to scripture. Jesus gave Peter, and his descendants, the authority, and more importantly, the responsibility to govern his church. The church has the keys to the kingdom. It has the authority to evolve the church and the traditions within it. This, again, is according to scripture. See, we Catholics stand on all three legs of the Christian faith. It is the only way. Take one leg away (as many of done) and the table collapses.
Well, that's it for now. Until next time,
EXCELSIOR.........and God Bless.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
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