Have you ever really taken a few seconds to look at your fingertips? I’m serious- take a minute and look at the many fine details that are etched into your fingertip. At work this morning, I had a few minutes before a large proposal was due for a project manager and I looked down at the finger I had burned on an iron the night before. I found it amazing that even though I burned my finger, the intricate lines of my finger print were still there.

As I began to connect the dots of my fingerprint, it became so real to me once again- not only how amazing God really is, but how special he made me to be. Every little detail, he thought about and molded just for me. Many times I forget about this concept. This morning I felt pretty special as I looked at something as small as my fingertip, because I was reminded that the great God almighty took time to make me just the way he intended me to be.

As I began to look at the rest of my fingertips, there appeared a pattern. Each finger had the same pattern running through them. But then I came across one of my fingers that I had cut by accident with a knife a few years back. This was a deep cut, but after months of band aids and neosporin, it became only a scar. And eventually over time, after the bandage was taken off and it was healed, the intricate lines on my fingertip covered it.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely have some things of my past that I am not proud of. Some deep wounds that have harmed me greatly. I have walked through some valleys that have hurt pretty badly. There came a point in my life that I had to give my wounds to God to cover with his blood and make me new. As I began to forgive those that had deeply wronged me and forgive myself for bad choices that I had made, I was able to slowly allow Jesus to make my heart like new again.

Just think what one of our fingers would look like if you cut if everyday in the same spot and never allowed it to heal. There would continually be a large gash that would cover up one of the most intricate and beautiful features about you. If you have some wounds in your life, press into the word desperately! The scars of our past are of the past and it would be a shame to see such a beautiful creature give up on their talents and unique abilities because of their scars.

Don’t let yours scars cover up who you really are in the Lord. He can still do magnificent things with your life. He wants us to rise again, learn from the past, and move on.

This is going to be a challenging review. The challenge, to be precise, is to fill several paragraphs without simply typing AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME ad nauseam.

WALL•E is a work of genius. (If gushing hyperbole makes you sick, you may wish to exit now.) Emotion is a difficult thing to pull off in any medium, and the fact that they have done it with a love story about two robots who don’t speak more than three words of English is reason enough to see it. The fact that they have done it as well as they have is reason enough to see it again.

It is easily the best film I have seen this year, and I say that without exaggeration. “I laughed, I cried” is so much a cliche that now even parodies of “I laughed, I cried” are cliched; yet laughing and crying are both likely to occur, and both equally well earned. The movie deserves every bit of praise it’s going to get, and those who dislike it should probably search their home and car pretty thoroughly, because they may have misplaced their soul.

Since Pixar isn’t content with just one incredible achievement at a time, WALL•E opens with a near-equally incredible short film–inferior only due to it’s length–titled Presto. Now I don’t have any good reason to complain but come on guys. Now you’re just showing off.

It is good. If you did not get that from the previous four paragraphs you should probably get an MRI or something. With the release of this film, Pixar reminds us all why they are the undisputed kings of what they do.

What exactly is it that they do? I was trying to place it, but then I couldn’t; I honestly don’t think we’ve ever seen it before.

falling with style

Podcasts are an awesome thing. We don’t even need books on tape anymore! Just click on your itunes and every week (for me every weekday) a new piece of non-musical audio goodness can be presented into your library. How cool is that? My choice of orated leisure listening is typically sermons and theological discussions. Nearly every time I put my ears to them, I can take something away for safe keeping. Most recently, I pressed play on a Ravi Zacharias talk and his closing thought was as follows:

“In reality, nothing is so beautiful as the good. In reality, nothing is so ugly as evil. But in our imagination we have reversed it. We have made good to become ugly and boring. We have made evil to become intriguing, attractive, and full of charm. Good and evil are like the positive and negative poles of an electric current. You transpose them and darkness falls and that’s why man is a stranger to himself today.”

I just love how simply put the problem of man is there, particularly relative to our culture but in existence since Adam and Eve. We ignore reality. We look past the soul and straight to the flesh. Once what is beautiful is put into perspective, it’s understood that it’s good. And once what is ugly is put into perspective, it’s understood that it’s bad. But when we look past the needs of the spiritual and straight to the needs of the body, we miss the big picture and fail to discern between the two.

What are we here for? You’d have no idea by looking at our society. It’s so ugly but gets portrayed to us as just the opposite. Bible believers in America are mocked, but Eastern philosophers are looked at as serious spiritual gurus. Sure it’s okay to believe in God, or a God, but nourishing a relationship with Him…you’re nuts! A scientist, a professor, a monk and a pastor sit on a public panel…who does the audience think is the least qualified for an intellectual discussion? The same people assuming the pastor’s ‘religious’ bias are guilty of their own ‘religious’ bias, but you know that would be the case.

The respect for followers of Christ is unapparent because the acknowledgment and appreciation for the necessity of the church is jaded. The allure of what is real and good has been defiled by human desire and excess. It is conveyed as pointless. “We don’t need God to tell us how to live good lives.” That’s the mentality. But as soon as you take God out of the equation and ignore His voice in your conscience, evil becomes standard and what once made you squirm does nothing to cause a batted eye.

As 40 approaches, I want to search deep into my own heart and make sure I’m seeking what is good and beautiful. Let’s not be blinded by darkness but instead led in the light…Lighthouse is our name after all. So many more thoughts and analogies come to mind, but it all boils down to this: what will we do with what God has given us? We can use it as it’s intended so that God’s glory is revealed or we can squander it by getting lost in things that don’t matter, serving our own flesh, and spoiling our collective heart. I don’t want to be a stranger to who I’m meant to be.

While discussing Kung Fu Panda, I alluded to the effect of expectations. Many a good movie has been dealt harshly because of expecting great, and many a mediocre film has been let off easy because of expecting awful. However, some films stand as examples of the converse: that expectations do not an opinion make. The Incredible Hulk does exactly that.

It was another film I thought would suck, I admit. The trailers didn’t do much for me, and despite somewhat positive buzz, I could not find it appealing. Yet these low expectations perform no magic dance. The smoke clears, and the film is just okay.

It starts off well, providing a likable, interesting Bruce Banner. The story builds slow, but not slow — methodical. In a good way. It gains momentum and intrigue, slips into familiar action movie tropes — all still fine, nothing to dislike, even if a bit too structured and predictable.

Then we get to the third act, and they throw everything decent out the window to have a big monster fight. A big, boring monster fight.

Yeah, so the first two thirds are not high art, and contain few surprises. But they’re entertaining. They obey their own rules. By the final fight, even these consistencies are jettisoned. Plot and character are abandoned like a sand-filled life preserver, and even fun is left behind, as the entire city of New York is reduced to a single street and a single rooftop for the most meaningless and low-stakes battle of the CGI baddies this summer.

If you’re desperately hard-up for some comic-book superhero action, you could do worse. It’s not a terrible movie; it’s not a great movie. More like The Tolerable Hulk, am i right?

Sorry.

it was at a funny angle

Two Sundays ago, Pastor Cliff closed out the “Frames” series by looking at God through the frame of marriage. Those of you who were in attendance understand the difficulty with which Cliff approached the topic—Angela, the wife of his youth, the love of his life, at home dealing with particular health issues. Truth be told, I think Cliff could have bawled the whole hour and we would have all understood. That would have been his sermon and we all would have left just as moved. As it was, though, God used him as a willing vessel and Cliff was able to deliver what may have been one of the best sermons we will ever hear, evidenced by all the hugs and tears afterwards (even between dudes secure in their masculinity).

During the sermon, Cliff alluded to Barry Bonds and his tainted record in MLB. Embroiled in the performance-enhancing drug scandal (read: steroids), Barry Bonds’ legacy will always have a question mark attached to it. Or, as Cliff puts it, an asterisk (*). There will always be doubts as to whether or not Bonds’ record was attained through raw, natural talent or through a combination of talent and steroid use. Connecting this to the matter of his own personal purity prior to celebrating his marital union, Cliff spoke openly about the mistakes he’d made sexually that had left his past marked by an “asterisk.” “I was a virgin, but I was a virgin with an asterisk,” Cliff explained. Going further, he revealed the painful truth that this fact was on his mind on his wedding night (and likely will always remains with him).

When the sermon was done, I spoke with Cliff a little about how the message encouraged me a great deal. I was able to latch on to other portions of the sermon that enabled me to see how God connects with his Church. But, I also left a bit disheartened. You see. I am divorced. So, when I hear messages about marriage and how God relates to us, like a lover relating to his bride, it elicits feelings of rejection, bitterness, and especially failure. My life is an asterisk.Allow me the spiritual discipline of confession. (If you can’t allow that…well, it’s a blog…deal with it…) I wish I could say I was the perfect husband. I wasn’t. I didn’t know the first thing about women when I got married. We had made mistakes sexually and, in a way, I felt like I should make things right by getting married. But, we lacked communication, worked extremely opposite shifts, and didn’t see eye-to-eye spiritually (nor did we try to work on it). We didn’t know how to argue; we didn’t like the same things; we didn’t like the same people. Interestingly enough, despite all of this, I liked being married. (I kind of think I might have been designed for it. I think I read that somewhere in Genesis. That’s humor for those of you who are uncomfortable at this point.) What is more, commitment is commitment. If I couldn’t communicate my love with my words, I could, at the very least, stick to my word. I hear actions speak louder than words, anyway. Furthermore, I am a firm believer that God can redeem anything, especially a messed up marriage.

Life sometimes does not honor your commitments, though. My wife, now pregnant with our child, separated from me in a backwards attempt of fixing things. Not long after our daughter’s birth, my wife ended up having a very hurtful sexual affair with another man. I wish I could say I didn’t understand it, but I did. That didn’t make it right. Not long thereafter, I was sent divorce papers in the mail. I fought the divorce for nearly a year. Many people told me it was a hopeless cause. Even my Christian friends implored me to let it go, citing Scripture to let me know that I was off the hook because of her unfaithfulness. Ultimately, it was a losing battle, but to stick to one’s commitment is always worth the fight. If that is the lesson I take from it all, so be it. But, I digress. When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. What do you do when it leaves a brown paper bag full of dog poop that has been lit on fire at your doorstep?

Married at age 20. A father by 22. Divorced by 23. As I sat in the courtroom, just prior to signing the papers that would dissolve our marriage in the eyes of the State, I remember asking, “I wonder what this means to my faith?” You see, the fact that my divorce was “Biblical” does not make it any easier. It doesn’t make the feelings of hurt and pain go away. It doesn’t make the questions of adequacy—spiritual, emotional, sexual—go away. Marriage creates one person out of two. Divorce divides one person in half. That’s why God hates it. I do not imagine there is any worse pain than divorce. It is a fate worse than death, because death is what is supposed to separate a husband and a wife. If death does not break a marriage, it is tantamount to seeing the living dead. And, it certainly screwed up how I saw God. If marriage is supposed to mirror God’s relationship with mankind, what does it say when the reflection you see in that mirror is a divorce?

During his sermon, Cliff also alluded to the story of Hosea. Commanded by God to marry a prostitute, Hosea’s relationship with Gomer was a metaphor for how Israel was treating the Creator. How different they must have been. The prophet and the prostitute. It conjures pictures of a Southern Baptist minister dressed in a flammable three-piece leisure suit standing next to pre-shopping spree Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Ultimately, though, Hosea got his wife back. For all the pain and sorrow he went through, he buys her back. And God buys us back. That’s the point. We return. We are healed.

Now, the turn.My marriage was not redeemed. It was destroyed. Totally and utterly destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. But, since then, the Father has continued to lavish love, Jesus has continued to redeem, and the Holy Spirit has continued to give peace and comfort. I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’m still the chief of sinners. But, Jesus has softened me—made me more pliable. I respect marriage so much more now. I have the ability to cry and be moved with others who have gone through that kind of brokenness. I offer kind words and compliments, because this world (including many marriages) are filled to the brim with so many hurtful ones. My life is an asterisk, yes, but I have been given a unique ministry to others whose lives are asterisks, too. My story isn’t necessarily one for or readily accepted by those who are “healthy.” That’s fine. It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Jesus said that.

Let me close this inordinately long-winded entry with this. There are things I can’t see that God does. One of the things I cannot see is God and the frame of marriage. I think I understand what makes marriage work a little better now, but I won’t know unless I get married again. Be that as it may, while I may not see it, I experience it. I run from God like Gomer runs from Hosea. I whore myself in both word and deed. Yet, God kicks in the door of my spiritual hotel room, pulls the sheets away, reveals my shame, acknowledges my brazen defiance as I eat my sacred raisin cake, pays the fifteen shekel redemption price that I’m not even worth (Hosea 3:2), and tells me in no uncertain terms, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you.” Despite myself, Jesus pursues, woos, and smothers me with undeserved romance. And I am undone.

Blessings.

C. E’Jon Moore is the creator and administrator of the Christian review e-zine www.thechristianmanifesto.com. You can send him email at thechristianmanifesto@gmail.com. He’ll likely email you back pretty darn fast because he lives his life in cyberspace.

Most Christian music listeners are familiar with Kutless in one way or another. Whether it’s their slightly rocked rendition of “Better is One Day” from their worship release, their grungy self-titled, which saw the success of rock singles such as “Your Touch” and “Pride Away,” or their commercially successful sophomore album “Sea of Faces,” it’s hard not to know something by Kutless.

With their rock anthems, slower ballads, and worship tracks, they’ve accumulated quite a large and diversified fan base, appealing to both young and older crowds. While some didn’t take well to their fourth studio release “Hearts of the Innocent,” their fifth and latest, “To Know That You’re Alive,” may be what wins listeners back.

Ironically enough, the album opens with one of the weaker tracks on the CD. Initial impressions may be grim, as “The Feeling” carries a feeling of rehashed previous material. (Recall “Shut Me Out”) However, things take a turn with a brief musical interlude, “Sleeping City,” and the powerful “To Know You’re Alive”. Micah’s vocals shine throughout this quasi-opener, as he sings and screams, reminding us of the group’s earlier days. Following is another powerful track “The Disease & The Cure” which by now works to overshadow any negative first impressions.

Continuing with “Complete”, a song which rivals their best melodic songs on “Sea of Faces”, “To Know You’re Alive” begins to shape itself as a strong release. Lyrically Kutless remains true to their calling, writing with an unabashedly follower of Christ perspective. Highlights such as “You,” the experimental rocker “The Disease & The Cure” and the aforementioned title track solidify Kutless as a key force in the Christian music scene today.

“To Know That You’re Alive” is without a doubt one of their strongest releases, and could easily render itself candidate for album of the year. One of the album’s strong points is that it remains versatile to both heavier and more melodic tracks, and with that said, the future seems nothing but positive, and “To Know You’re Alive” will expectedly be well received by both fans and critics alike.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Street Date: June 24, 2008
Label: BEC Records

Track Listing:

1.) The Feeling
2.) Sleeping City
3.) To Know You’re Alive
4.) The Disease & The Cure
5.) Complete
6.) The Rescue
7.) Promise You
8.) Guiding Me Home
9.) Overcoming Me
10.) I Do Not Belong
11.) Loud
12.) Dying To Become
13.) You

Camaren is also a columnist for The Christian Manifesto an online Christian magazine reflecting on Christian thought, media, and news, you can check out this review and more here.

I always get pretty excited when two separate musicians I love team up to form a new band.  For instance, I nearly had a heart attack when I heard Jack White and Brendan Benson were forming The Raconteurs.  So I was equally pushed to the edge of cardiac arrest when I first heard of The Foxglove Hunt - the new eighties-indie-pop band from Joy Electric’s Ronnie Martin and Fine China’s Rob Withem.Now unless you follow obscure Christian indie music, their names won’t mean much to you, but I can assure you they’re two very talented individuals.  Ronnie Martin has been recording synth-pop under the moniker Joy Electric for fifteen years on Tooth and Nail Records, while Rob Withem was the frontman for Fine China for nearly ten years.  So The Foxglove Hunt aren’t a couple of kids making eighties-style new-wave for irony’s sake, but two veterans of the music industry who’ve been playing this type of music before it became in vogue (again).Their debut album Stop Heartbeat is unapologetic ’80s electronic indie-pop, heavily influenced by legends such as New Order and The Smiths.  Its very true to the genre - almost a tribute to these bands (they even throw in a Psychedelic Furs cover - “Love My Way”).  Fake hand claps and choirs abound amidst electronic beeps and blips.  It may come off as cheesy to some, but personally it puts a smile on my face.  Atop of all the synthesizers is Withem’s guitar work, which adds accents and fills out the sound, but never really overpowers the synths.  There’s no mistaking this is primarily an electronic driven album.Looking past the sometimes jarring electronic flourishes, the vocal melodies are what really sets The Foxglove Hunt apart. Withem’s laid back voice and engaging melodies is what always made his old band Fine China great, and he continues with it here.  His vocal tone may not be appealing to everyone, but I think he has a perfect voice for the style of music.All in all, The Foxglove Hunt’s debut album Stop Heartbeat is a great listen all the way through.  A couple of the songs seem like filler, but there are no tracks that I skip or that stand out as particularly uninspired.  It’s hard for me not to judge the band by the member’s other endeavors, and I’d say I prefer Fine China’s similar sound to The Foxglove Hunt. But since there won’t be another Fine China album, The Foxglove Hunt is a more than worthy replacement.  Hopefully this band isn’t a one off side project and they continue to make music.8 out of 10The Foxglove Hunt on MySpace

My story of anxiety begins in the first grade. We had a creative writing assignment that year. And somewhere in the blur of meeting new friends, recess time, and admiring my rad 80’s trapper-keeper, I remember the assignment quite vividly. We were taking a trip to the Detroit Zoo (which is not actually in Detroit) and our writing assignment was to describe an animal of our choice. I remember it being hot that day, so naturally I convinced my group to spend an extended time in the penguin house. Even at a young age, I weighed the pros and cons of cool temperature over stench and the air conditioning won out. The next day in my classroom I sat with my knees pressed up against the underside of the small desk, eager to write all that I had learned about penguins. I grabbed my oversize #2 pencil and brownish paper with horizontal blue lines, solid and dashed, and began to write. Diligently I concentrated on each letter as I spelled out words describing the penguin’s color and ability to swim in the cold water. About halfway through my writing assignment I realized that I had to get up, go to the corner of the room and crank the pencil sharpener to bring my writing utensil back to the sharp, clean level of excellence it had begun at. I quickly returned to my desk and finished the assignment. Boy, was a proud of my Penguin essay. But the next day, tragedy struck. My paper was returned with a big fat F on the top of the page. Why? Because my first grade teacher had a personal vendetta against me and claimed that the assignment was unacceptable because the first half was a ‘lighter grey’ while the second half was a completely different color. Remember, I had sharpened my pencil.

So needless to say, the rest of the school year produced a stomachache. And a six year old cannot begin to articulate their feelings correctly to Mom and Dad as they seek to understand why their son hates school and worries about class assignments. My anxiety soon led me to the doctor’s office and a hospital visit where they concluded I needed an Upper GI Track X-ray. Let me tell you, the combination of a hospital gown, laying perfectly still on a metal bed, and pumping someone full of barium, does not do anything to help someone with anxiety issues! All they found that day from the X-ray was an image resembling the face of my First grade teacher.

Just kidding. It has been almost 20 years now since that dark time; I can say all of that it behind me. On a serious note, worry and anxiety has been a big part of my life, even from a young age. And since then, I have learned a lot about the difference between a healthy concern for life and harmful anxiety. The best thing I have learned regarding my anxious tendency cannot be contained in a self-help book but in the person of Jesus Christ. He cares for me so much, He would sacrifice His life for mine. So with my life, bought with the precious price of my Savior, how could I possibly spend it stressing out? There are countless stories throughout Scripture of people dealing with stress and anxiety. The Israelites (Numbers), Peter (Matthew 14), Mary and Martha (Luke 10) to name a few.

Perhaps my favorite story with the cure to anxiety is found in 2 Kings 6. Elisha, a prophet of God, had angered an enemy king when he warned the Israelites of the enemy’s potential strike. The enemy king was furious and gave the orders “go find where he is so I can send men and capture him.” Sure enough they found his location and sent horses and chariots and surrounded the city. Verse 15 in chapter 6 continues the story, “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots has surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more that those who are with them.” And Elisa prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisa.

It’s all about perspective and whose strength you are living in each day. I know there is much in our world to stress us out! But know there is a God who is stronger and desires for you to surrender your life to Him. 1 Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Take each battle as it comes. Cast your cares on the strong shoulders of the one who died for you and replace your worry with Trust in God and a consistent prayer life! -Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Take the label off that is pinned onto your shirt,
And wash off the smile you drew on

Sit on the dirt you came from with everyone else
Sin doesn’t get placed on balance scales by God
One and all are the same

There are no requirements of morality, lifestyle, disposition, etc,
For God to come into a person’s heart and dwell in it
I’m afraid many are led to believe otherwise

I’ve walked within and past plastic people
I hope they’ll someday become flesh

Creating a stir with their debut “Business Up Front Party in the Back,” Family Force 5 established quite a name for themselves. This may have been due to the fact “Business” was unparalleled in the Christian Music scene, and relatively unrivaled in the market. Guitars unapologetically “crunchy,” verses unashamedly rapped, Family Force 5 seemingly both innovated and mastered a new genre for Christian rock fans: their self-described “crunk rock.” Unveiling a sampling of their latest with the “Dance or Die EP,” the five-some are serving up a platter of fresh from the oven material that’s bound to have fans begging for seconds.

The most notable characteristic, its dance element, represents a slight change in sound from their debut. Despite “Business” carrying tracks that numerous clubs could move to, the overall tone of “Dance or Die” is indeed dance. The title track, as well as “Wake the Dead” are classifiable as “dance anthems” with lyrics such as “Try to take our lives/ we will survive/ we’re running out of time/ the world ends tonight/ unless we dance or die” delivered with urgency and an unconventional sense of passion, manifesting itself in the form of bass and auto-tuned male vocals.

It’s a little odd to see a Christian group follow suit in what seems to be the latest trend, which is fusing rock with dance beats and overly smoothed vocals; however, it seems FF5 are setting the standard for others to follow. Although songs are far from introspective, the music remains intelligent, and “Dance or Die” feels mature and progressive.

4 out of 5

Street Date: June 3, 2008

Label: Gotee Records

Track Listing:

1.) Dance or Die
2.) Fever
3.) Wake the Dead

Camaren is also a columnist for The Christian Manifesto an online Christian magazine reflecting on Christian thought, media, and news, you can check out this review and more here.