“Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers.” Quoted from the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, summer of 1995.
You did not see a few isolated reports. There is an international agenda seeking to render fathers legally obsolete. Regardless of their legal success, fathers will always be critical to a healthy society. The United States is becoming overrun with fatherless homes, and suffering the consequences. This epidemic is causing our society to disintegrate and succumb to rampant crime, drug abuse, and poverty.
Fathers are critical to both sons and daughters. Sons need fathers to learn about being a godly man; how to fear God (Proverbs 1:7), have self-control, work hard, and respect women, just to name a few. Try as she might, mom alone will be hard-pressed to teach a son these valuable lessons. For daughters, their entire self-image comes from how they are treated by their fathers. A woman’s relationship with men will likely mirror her relationship with her father. The future of kids, regardless of gender, is firmly anchored in their relationship to their fathers.
Fathers, you have a tremendous responsibility. It’s not just your job to teach children how to become adults. Nearly everything they know about God they will learn from watching you (Acts 16:31). You are a representative of God, don’t let Him down.
“In Christ Alone” music video featuring scenes from “The Passion of the Christ”. It is sung by Lou Fellingham of Phatfish and the writer of the hymn is Stuart Townend. On this Easter weekend 2013 there is no other better time to take a look at the truth and accuracy of the Bible. Is the […]
Here is some very convincing evidence that points to the view that the Bible is historically accurate. Archaeological and External Evidence for the Bible Archeology consistently confirms the Bible! Archaeology and the Old Testament Ebla tablets—discovered in 1970s in Northern Syria. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place […]
Larry King – Dr. John MacArthur vs. “father” Manning Uploaded on Sep 26, 2011 GotoThisSite.org ___________ I have seen John MacArthur on Larry King Show many times and I thought you would like to see some of these episodes. I have posted several of John MacArthur’s sermons in the past and my favorite is his […]
The Bible and Archaeology (1/5) The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. _________________________- Many people have questioned the accuracy of the Bible, but I […]
I have been reading Proverbs almost every day for many years with my family in the evening and there is lots of wisdom in it. Take a look at the second part of this message from Adrian Rogers. How to Be the Father of a Wise Child Another great sermon outline from Adrian Rogers. Adrian Rogers […]
Picture of Adrian Rogers above from 1970′s while pastor of Bellevue Baptist of Memphis, and president of Southern Baptist Convention. (Little known fact, Rogers was the starting quarterback his senior year of the Palm Beach High School football team that won the state title and a hero to a 7th grader at the same school named […]
Leadership Crisis in America Published on Jul 11, 2012 Picture of Adrian Rogers above from 1970′s while pastor of Bellevue Baptist of Memphis, and president of Southern Baptist Convention. (Little known fact, Rogers was the starting quarterback his senior year of the Palm Beach High School football team that won the state title and a hero […]
Same old story it seems. Kentucky pulls out another close victory over the Vols. This is not the only story I am talking about today. Kentucky’s Alex Poythress (22) shoots between Tennessee’s Josh Richardson, left, and Yemi Makanjuola during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., Tuesday, […]
7 years ago on November 15, 2005 Adrian Rogers passed away. This is a series of posts about the life and ministry of Adrian Rogers. Adrian Rogers Memorial – Come To Jesus Uploaded by jonwhisner on Jan 20, 2011 This video is from Adrian Roger’s Memorial Service held at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN in […]
(My pastor growing up was Adrian Rogers and he died 7 years ago today. He would have been 82 if he was still living. ) I love the Book of Proverbs and every day I read one chapter of Proverbs. Since there are 31 chapters, I start the 1st of ever month and read chapter […]
Picture of Adrian Rogers above from 1970′s while pastor of Bellevue Baptist of Memphis, and president of Southern Baptist Convention. (Little known fact, Rogers was the starting quarterback his senior year of the Palm Beach High School football team that won the state title and a hero to a 7th grader at the same school […]
7 years ago on November 15, 2005 Adrian Rogers passed away. This is a series of posts about the life and ministry of Adrian Rogers. Adrian Rogers Memorial – Come To Jesus Uploaded by jonwhisner on Jan 20, 2011 This video is from Adrian Roger’s Memorial Service held at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN in […]
7 years ago on November 15, 2005 Adrian Rogers passed away. This is a series of posts about the life and ministry of Adrian Rogers. Adrian Rogers Memorial – Come To Jesus Uploaded by jonwhisner on Jan 20, 2011 This video is from Adrian Roger’s Memorial Service held at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN in […]
Picture of Adrian Rogers above from 1970′s while pastor of Bellevue Baptist of Memphis, and president of Southern Baptist Convention. (Little known fact, Rogers was the starting quarterback his senior year of the Palm Beach High School football team that won the state title and a hero to a 7th grader at the same school named […]
David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR.
As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me To Life” in 2004. Evanescence’s debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
David went on to write and produce Kelly Clarkson’s biggest worldwide single to date, “Because Of You”, which appeared on Clarkson’s 11 million-selling album Breakaway and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song Of The Year honor. The song was covered by Reba McEntire as the first single off her Duets album, and quickly rose up the country charts in 2007 becoming McEntire’s 30th Top 2 country single.
Hodges also penned the single, “What About Now”, which appears on American Idol Chris Daughtry’s debut album Daughtry. The 4x platinum Daughtry to date is credited as the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. “What About Now” also happens to be the first single on Westlife’s album “Who We Are.” David also won a BMI Pop award for this song.
David wrote the first single “Crush” for American Idol’s David Archuleta, which had the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. David has since written songs for & released by Carrie Underwood, Train, Christina Perri, Celine Dion, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, The Cab, & many others.
In less than 10 years, David Hodges has been nominated for 6 Grammys & 1 Golden Globe, has won 5 BMI pop awards & 1 BMI country award, has had at least one album in the Billboard 200 for the last 8 consecutive years, and has written on albums that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
“Going Under” is a song by American rock band Evanescence. It was released on September 9, 2003, as the second single from their debut album Fallen. It was written by Amy Lee, David Hodges and Ben Moody, while production was handled by Dave Fortman. Initially planned to be the first single from Fallen, the release of the Daredevil soundtrack eclipsed the decision, resulting in the release of “Bring Me to Life“.
The song contains rock and metal influences among others and its main instrumentation consists of drums and guitars built around Lee’s soprano vocals. The song received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. While failing to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, “Going Under” peaked at number 5 on the BillboardAlternative Songs chart. It charted in the top forty in every country and it was certified Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.
The music video for the song was directed by Philipp Stölzl and it was filmed in May 2003 in Germany. It shows Lee performing on a concert along with the band, while fans are turning into zombies. She designed the both dresses she wears in the video. It ranked at number 12 on the list of “The 15 Scariest Music Videos Ever” published by Billboard. Evanescence additionally added the song to the set-list on their Fallen and The Open Door Tour.
Ben Moody (pictured) co-wrote the song along with Amy Lee and David Hodges.[3][4]
“Going Under” was written by Amy Lee, David Hodges and Ben Moody, while production for the song was handled by Dave Fortman.[4] It was the last song written for Fallen although a demo version was recorded before the release of Fallen, and it featured a slightly different sound in the music and Lee’s vocals. An acoustic version was recorded shortly after the release of Fallen, along with several other songs.[1] According to Amy Lee, “Going Under” is about recovering from an abusive relationship, which she has stated in a number of interviews. In an interview with MTV News, Lee further explained the meaning and the inspiration behind the song,
“The lyrics are about coming out of a bad relationship, and when you’re at the end of your rope, when you’re at the point where you realize something has to change, that you can’t go on living in the situation that you’re in. It’s cool. It’s a very strong song.”[5]
The UK single of “Going Under” contains the album version of the song and a live version recorded at WNOR in Norfolk, Virginia.[1][6] An acoustic radio version of “Going Under” and an acoustic version of Nirvana‘s “Heart-Shaped Box,” recorded at WXDX-FM in Pittsburgh are placed on the single as well. The fourth track is the music video for the song.[1] Tim Sendra of Allmusic wasn’t satisfied with the cover of Nirvana saying that Lee’s vocals are “overly dramatic side here and serve to make the song into a bad joke.”[1]
Composition
According to the sheet music published by Alfred Music Publishing on the website Musicnotes.com, “Going Under” is an rock, alternative metal, gothic rock, hard rock and chamber pop song set in common time and performed in slow and free tempo of 84 beats per minute.[7] It is written in the key of B minor and Lee’s vocal range for the song runs from the musical note of E3 to D♯5.[7] Containing some nu-metal influences,[8] the song features several guitars and drum machine as Lee sings the lines “fifty thousand tears I’ve cried”.[9] A writer for The Boston Globe said that the song is a “a mix of Lee’s ethereal soprano, piano interludes, and layers of serrated guitar crunch that conjure visions of Sarah McLachlan fronting Godsmack.”[10]
Mikel Toombs of Seattle Post-Intelligencer found a Wagnerian arrangement and metal and classic rock influences in the song.[11] Joe D’Angelo from MTV News wrote that the “toothy riffs” of songs like “Going Under” and “Bring Me to Life” might suggest that “Nobody’s Home” (2005) from Avril Lavigne‘s second studio album Under My Skin will sound like “an Evanescence song with Avril, not Amy Lee, on vocals.”[12] It was also described as a “goth-meets pop” song by Michael D. Clark of The Houston Chronicle.[13] Tim Sendra of Allmusic said that the “tinkling pianos and hip-hop-inspired backing vocals, [are] making the song perfect for those who find the male histrionics of Limp Bizkit and their ilk too oppressive.”[1] Vik Bansal of MusicOMH compared the song with Evanescence’s previous single, “Bring Me to Life” saying that it contained “Amy Lee’s temptress vocals, pseudo-electronic beats à la Linkin Park, understated but menacing metallic riffs in the background, and a ripping, radio-friendly rock chorus.”[14]
Reception
Tim Sendra of Allmusic called the song “one of the harder tracks” on Fallen.[1] Sendra also praised the acoustic version of the song placed on UK single saying that Lee’s vocals are “free rein to soar.”[1] Johnny Loftus of the same publication wrote that the song “surges nicely into its anthemic chorus, and when the guitars do show up (like on ‘Everybody’s Fool‘), Lee matches their power easily.”[15] While reviewing Evanescence’s second studio album, The Open Door, Brendan Butler of Cinema Blend compared the song with “Sweet Sacrifice” (2007) calling it the most “radio-friendly” song.[16] Joe D’Angelo of MTV News wrote that the song “should be as omnipresent as ‘Bring Me to Life“.[17] Vik Bansal of MusicOMH praised the song stating that the band “have poured bits of metal and goth into the cauldron, and by using a smattering of pop, produced a mix that makes those two musical genres more palatable to the general public.”[14] It was nominated for the Kerrang! Award for Best Single.
Although “Going Under” failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number 4 and 5 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles[18] and on the Alternative Songs chart respectively.[19] The song debuted at number 14 on the Australian Singles Chart on August 31, 2003 which later became the song’s peak position on that chart.[20] It was certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) in 2003.[2] In Italy, “Going Under” debuted at number 16 on October 16, 2003 and it later peaked at number 9 on January 1, 2004.[21] On the year-end chart in the same country, “Going Under” was placed at number 56.[22] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number 8 on October 4, 2011 which later became its peak position.[23] On November 8, the song charted at number 53 and it fell out of the chart the next week.[23]
Music video
Amy Lee singing in the video with the red corset which cost US$2,500.[24]
The accompanying music video for “Going Under” was filmed in Berlin, Germany, in May 2003 and was directed by Philipp Stölzl, the same director of the video for “Bring Me to Life”.[5] The video features the band performing a concert as the audience morphs back and forth into zombies. Additional scenes involve Lee underwater, representing the lyrics “Drowning in you”. The video shows Lee designed both of the dresses she wears in the music video, and stitched the white dress used in the underwater scenes of the video, all while recovering from an illness in a hotel in Los Angeles, California which was the original filming location for the music video.[5] She described the white dress during an interview with MTV News, “It’s white and has a lot of shreds. It reminds me of something someone who died would wear. It’s a long dress, ripped up. Different shreds of different fabric, just flying around underwater.”[5] The red corset that Lee designed was custom made by a designer, and cost US$2,500.[24] Lee further explained the fashion and her style in the video, “I wear lots of funky stuff onstage. I like to mix it up. I like to use two basic elements for my clothing: rock — you know, metal and chains and stuff — mixed with fairies and drama and Victorian clothing — fantasy. Honestly I just wear what I like. You know why? ‘Cause I can. I’m a rock star.”[5]
The video for the song starts with Lee in a room while preparing for a concert. Several makeup artists apply cosmetics to her face. Their faces begin to change and become distorted. Meanwhile, guitarist Ben Moody is shown being overwhelmed by several reporters and photographers in a press conference. He, like Lee, becomes shocked as they change with zombies-like faces. Those scenes are followed by Lee walking to the stage where the band starts performing the song. As Lee looks at the people in the crowd, they transform back and forth into demonic-like zombies. However, she continues singing the song and during the bridge of the song, she dives into the crowd, which appears to act as water (representing the song’s lyrics “going under, drowning in you”). Several shots show her under the water as glowing jellyfish are surrounding her. Moody surfs the crowd during his guitar solo, while from below he is seen floating in the water above Lee and the jellyfish. Lee surfaces at the end of Moody’s solo and both are thrown back onto the stage by the crowd, which has now returned to normal. At the end of the video, Lee looks at Moody. When she looks again, he has turned into a demon.[25]
The music video ranked at number 12 on the list of “The 15 Scariest Music Videos Ever” published by Billboard.[25] It was added that “Evanescence compares the trappings of fame to being haunted by ghouls in this clip for the band’s 2003 single. Singer Amy Lee’s makeup is applied by a gaggle of sinister old women, while the crowd at the band’s show morphs into a ravenous pack of zombies. Lee eventually overcomes the visions — only to find that guitarist Ben Moody is a demon as well.”[25] According to Joe D’Angelo of MTV News, the shots of Lee drowning in the video, shows a “distressed and emotionally wrought heroine.”[26]
Live performances and covers
Evanescence performed the song during the 2003 American Music Awards. During the performance, Lee was dressed in a colorful poodle skirt, tank top and flower-shaped tattoos on her forehead and neck.[27] Evanescence performed the song during the 2003 Teen Choice Awards.[28] On the 2006 Jingle Ball, Evanescence performed “Going Under” and “Call Me When You’re Sober“. Before starting to sing the song Lee announced, “We’re going to do something completely different from everyone else tonight — and rock as hard as we can.” According to Kelefa Sanneh during the performance, she was “bending over and pumping her fist”.[29] The band played the song live at their secret New York gig which took place on November 4, 2009.[30][31] On their concert at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 17, 2011, Evanescence performed “Going Under” in promotion of their new third self-titled album, Evanescence.[32] They also performed the song during the 2011 Rock in Rio festival on October 2, 2011.[33] On October 15, 2011, Evanescence performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[34] A live version of the song from Le Zénith, Paris is featured on their first live album, Anywhere but Home (2004).[15][35] American rock band We Are the Fallen, which is composed mostly of the original line-up that recorded the song as Evanescence, covered the song live in June 2009 during a concert in Los Angeles.[36][37]
Usage in media
The music of “Going Under” can be heard in the credits of the video game Enter the Matrix[38] and also features in the movie and trailer of the 2006 film Tristan & Isolde. The song was also used in promotional advertisements for the television series Angel and The Grid. This song was also released as downloadable content for Rock Band Network.[39]
Christina Perri ‘Safe Haven’ Interview- New Album Coming! Published on Feb 6, 2013 http://bit.ly/ClevverMusic – Subscribe to ClevverMusic! We caught up with “Jar of Hearts” singer Christina Perri at the Safe Haven movie premiere where her song “Arms” is featured on the soundtrack. We chatted with her on the red carpet about the song, and […]
David Hodges is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock and he co-wrote the song “A Thousand Years,”with Christina Perri. It was featured in the movie “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” David is one of the three founding members of Evanescence and he has written for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, […]
The “American Idol” contestant-turned-actress is getting positive reviews for her role in “Smash.” The singer plays an actress who is competing for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway show. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “‘Glee’ for grownups” and Entertainment Weekly calls McPhee “mediocre” but “very likable.” Great song: Uploaded by KatharineMcPheeVEVO on Nov […]
Little Rock native and Arkansas Baptist High School graduate David Hodges co-wrote a song for the blockbuster movie “Breaking Dawn” that comes out this Friday. Interview: Breaking Dawn’s Christina Perri Twi’s Hard, Dreams Big By Leah Collins, Dose.ca Nov 1, 2011 More Images » OMG. Christina Perri went from a […]
On June 28, 2013 Underwood was back on top with a song that Little Rock native David Hodges who graduated at Arkansas Baptist High School help write. Carrie Underwood “Sees” No. 1 Again onTop 20 By Sarah Wyland | Leave a Comment Carrie Underwood photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville. Carrie Underwood current single title is prophetic. She makes […]
Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider
_____________________
I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Let me show you some inescapable conclusions if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”
Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).
You can only find a lasting meaning to your life by looking above the sun and bring God back into the picture.
Lesson Focus: This lesson is about the struggle people face when defining the meaning of their lives.
Is Life Meaningless?: Ecclesiastes 1:1-7.
[1] The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. [2] Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. [3] What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? [4] A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. [5] The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
[6] The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. [7] All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. [ESV]
Ecclesiastes is an open letter from God to everyone who is willing to think about the issues of life. In a graphic and relentless way, the awful realities are exposed and the way is pointed to God’s answers. God gave this Word through the Preacher (or Teacher) to His covenant people in order to lead them back to the joy of meaningful life in reconciled fellowship with Him. The Preacher asked all the basic questions that wracked the minds of men and women in his day. And just as surely and as timely, his message impacts on the need of our own day. Is there any real meaning in life? Or is everything meaningless? All is vanity says the Preacher. On the face of it, the writer seems to be promoting the idea that everything really is meaningless. We must remember, however, that he is constructing an argument designed to lead us from one way of thinking to another that is radically different. He therefore starts with the wrong idea so that he may lead us to the right one. He means to expose what we nowadays call the secular view of life: a life without any absolutes, a life without the certainties of the revelation of God’s Word, a life lived out of values generated by man without reference to God, a life that expects lasting satisfaction from earthbound things. He wants to show how such a life can only be meaningless and must end in disillusionment in time, not to mention eternity. To heighten the drama of his argument, he gives a vivid presentation of this position as if it is all there is! Surprisingly perhaps, this theme of meaninglessness is only a means to his primary goal. Later, as he develops his argument, he shows his readers that there is real meaning in life and that it consists in loving God and being his disciples [12:13-14]. He is not a cynic. He firmly believes that all meaning comes from the infinite, personal God who has revealed Himself to humanity in His Word. Consequently, he is persuaded that this meaning is only understood and grasped in a personal relationship with God – a living faith in Him, which results in a commitment to discipleship as a child of God.
[1-3] What does the Preacher mean when he ascribes meaninglessness to everything? His point of contact with everyone who reads his words is their everyday experience of life. Everything around us reminds us of our transient foothold on planet Earth, and only a faith that sees beyond this level of reality can find comfort and security, or even meaning itself, that transcend the inevitabilities of change, decay and death. The Hebrew word translated vanity is used no fewer than thirty-six times in Ecclesiastes. It basically means ‘wind’ or ‘breath’, but, depending upon the specific context, it implies vanity, senselessness, transitoriness and meaninglessness. This sense of futility attaches to just about every aspect of our lives: pleasure [2:1-2]; property [2:4]; knowledge [2:12-16]; wealth [2:8; 5:8-15]; work [2:17-23]; success [4:13-16]; youth [11:10]; and, needless to say, frustration [4:4,7-8], loneliness [4:9-12], and death [3:19; 11:8]. Futility is endemic to the human condition and inevitably recurs in our experience. If now is all there is, you can be sure that as much meaning as possible will be wrung from it. Why? Because there is no other source! But this source is identical to the all that the Preacher declares so emphatically to be utterly meaningless. But over against the seeming futility of our fleeting impermanence stands the majestic unchangeableness of the infinite and eternal God and, not lease, the promise of redemption. The phrase under the sun is used twenty-five times in Ecclesiastes to characterize the secular life as seen through the Preacher’s eyes. It refers to a life limited to material, earthly categories – a life without the eternal dimension and the ultimate reality of the infinite, personal God. The question in verse 3 invites the reader to participate in the Preacher’s struggle about the meaning of life. Man, gain, toil and under the sun are all key terms that are repeated by the Preacher throughout the book. Man or humanity and under the sun point out the universal nature of the quest for meaning of life. Gain or benefit and toil or labor used together by the Preacher indicates his concern about our labor providing any gain in our quest for the meaning of life. He is perplexed about the meaningfulness or benefit of labor as he observes the world around him. The contemporary and pastoral significance of the Preacher’s quest should not be underestimated. As with all biblical religion, his concern is with all of human life as God has made it. The refrain under the sun evokes this comprehensive range as does the variety of areas of life on which he will focus.
[4-7] Verses 4-11 are a poem that is deliberately placed between the programmatic question in verse 3 and the Preacher’s first-person introduction of himself in verse 12. The poem alerts us to two key issues that the Preacher will struggle with as he explores the benefit of labor and thus the meaning of life: the repetitiveness of history and the fact that people are not remembered. The following issues are raised as indications of why the benefit of labor is such a problem. The earth exhibits permanence, but not so humankind. Generations come and go and this transience raises major questions for the Preacher of the value of labor. In contrast to the earth, which stands forever, there is a lot of activity in nature, as indicated by the large number of participles in verses 5-7, evoking continuous action. The sun and the wind are very active, but their activity is circular and repetitive and seems to go nowhere. The verb translated hastens means ‘to pant’. The sun is like a runner endlessly making his way around a racetrack. As the movement of the sun implies an east-west course, now the wind is described as moving north and south. The repetition around and around heightens the sense of monotony and purposelessness. The sense of accomplishing nothing is reinforced in verse 7. The rivers continually empty into the sea but cannot fill it. The implication here is not repetitive motion but futile activity. These verses profoundly impress certain sensations on the reader. First comes a sense of the indifference of the universe to our presence. It was here before we came, and it will be here, unchanged, after we have gone. Second, however, the universe, like us, is trapped in a cycle of monotonous and meaningless motion. It is forever moving, but it accomplishes nothing. Finally, a sense of loneliness and abandonment pervades the text.
Is Life Wearing You Down?: Ecclesiastes 1:8-11.
[8] All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. [9] What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. [10] Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. [11] There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. [ESV]
[8] If all we have are our senses – what we see and hear – we know that there is no end to the round of pleasing them. Just as our eyes and ears demand to be fed with new sensations, so an under-the-sun life is never satisfied. Yet the modern consumer society is largely built on this frantic foundation. It remains a fact of experience that the highest sensations of the cult of consumerism tend to leave an aftertaste of dissatisfaction and a craving for newer and better experiences. There is no lasting satisfaction under the sun: All things are full of weariness.
[9-11]There is nothing new under the sun. In other words, what is new never remains new; it soon becomes old. In terms of the deeper things of the human spirit – meaning and aspirations – there is no real hope of anything different or better. Today’s novelty becomes tomorrow’s drudgery and seems, in the end, only to compound the problem. Today, there is plenty of change, an endless flow of new things. But what is really new, in terms of the things that matter? In the ancient world there was a certain timelessness to the passing of the years. The original readers of Ecclesiastes did not generally experience the kind of rapid change that we today find so commonplace and so impossibly difficult to catch up with. The force of the Preacher’s words is perhaps blunted by the very pace of modern society. We are, after all, submerged in novelty as a matter of everyday experience. Candid reflection, however, unmasks the illusion. Modern man knows in his heart that if anything has changed, it has probably been for the worse rather than the better. At the root of the matter, secular man views the world and human history as a closed system. There is no God and no divine goal for life or history. All that remains is unaided human effort clawing forward in the context of an evolving material universe. If the new soon becomes tedious commonplace [1:10], the past becomes irrelevant and is eventually forgotten altogether [1:11]. History is nonsense. Reality is now. Existence is all. There is an alternative to this meaninglessness. It is to see the world God’s way. It is to realize your need of a Savior and to come to Him in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose death effects the redemption of the lost who will come to Him. Christ is the focus of all meaning for a fallen world. Life without a personal faith relationship with the Lord – a godless, secular, under-the-sun life – is life without ultimate meaning. It is life without a future. More accurately, it is life with an endless non-future of eternal alienation from God. Such life in the present is without true meaningfulness, however much it is overlaid by the pursuit of knowledge or pleasure. But Jesus calls us, in the good news of His everlasting gospel, to new life in him – to fullness of meaning – right now and for evermore.
What is the Answer?: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.
[13] The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. [14] For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. [ESV]
When Solomon says, let us hear the end of the matter, it is like he is shouting, ‘Hear this!’. This is the point to which everything has been leading. So pay attention and don’t miss it. This conclusion comprises a double point. One concerns the Lord and the other His Word. These are the twin foci of the entire book: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. To obey God is to be truly human. Throughout his book the Preacher has investigated the situation of mankind. Now, surprisingly, he affirms that the whole of humanity consists not in its mortality or ignorance but in its dependence on God. And yet the conclusion is not surprising. It not only flows naturally from all that has gone before but is the book’s final look at Genesis 2-3. Humanity sought to become like God in disobeying Him, but instead they lost the one thing that made them truly human. Everything Ecclesiastes has affirmed up to this point – the sovereign freedom of God, the limits of human wisdom, thoughts on the use and abuse of wealth and power, and the brevity and absolute contingency of human life – all lead to the command to fear God. For us the meaninglessness of life which the Preacher so ruthlessly exposes would seem to lead to despair or nihilism; for him it is an incitement to true piety. The insignificance of all that is done under the sun leaves him awestruck and silent before God. His inability to control or predict the future provokes him to dependence on God. The futility of attempting to secure his future through wisdom or acts of religion leads him not to impiety but to an understanding of the true nature of obedient trust. Seen in this light, to keep his commandments is not to behave with the self-satisfied arrogance of religious presumption, nor is it a nod to piety from an otherwise impious book. Rather, it is the deepest expression of humble acceptance of what it means to be a human before God.
This summary statement can be unpacked into some leading questions that challenge the conscience to the depths. (1) Do you know God? (2) Are you keeping His commandments? (3) Have you acknowledged your accountability before Him? (4) Will you confess that God is just in all His judgments? Outside of God and a loving reverence for Him and His revealed will, there really can only be vanity and meaninglessness. The full revelation of the New Testament now clothes this truth with the evangelical warmth of the gospel of Christ. God has revealed Himself to us in all His fullness as the Three-in-One, full of love and grace; the Father-God who is love and is to be worshipped in holy fear; the incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the mediator who has died in our place to bear our sins; and the Holy Spirit, who since Pentecost has ministered in the hearts of God’s people with transforming power. It is only in faithful relationship to this Godhead that mankind can avoid the despair of a fallen world and find true hope and meaningfulness for eternity.
Questions for Discussion:
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing Ecclesiastes? What does he mean when he writes that everything is vanity or meaninglessness?
2. What is the alternative to all this meaninglessness?
3. Why is to fear God and keep his commandments … the whole duty of man? Throughout Ecclesiastes, the Preacher has dealt with the issue of being truly human and how to find lasting meaning in life. How does fearing God and obeying His commandments provide the only solution to the Preacher’s search? What does it mean to fear God? What is the relationship between studying God’s Word and keeping his commandments?
This from the American Humanist website: This week we’re pleased to publish a new poem “Ecclesiastes” by Frank S. Robinson. Frank S. Robinson is a retired New York State administrative law judge, a rare coin dealer, and author of five books, most recently The Case for Rational Optimism. He is married to the poet Therese […]
Tampa Bay Rays apologize for Avril Lavigne TMZ reported: According to local reports, Avril’s mic didn’t work at the start of her show … and she responded to the cavalcade of boos by yelling obscenities at crowd. Rays rep Rick Vaughn tells TMZ, “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
Chris Martin revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was rasied an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. His belief in […]
Picture of Adrian Rogers above from 1970′s while pastor of Bellevue Baptist of Memphis, and president of Southern Baptist Convention. (Little known fact, Rogers was the starting quarterback his senior year of the Palm Beach High School football team that won the state title and a hero to a 7th grader at the same school named […]
Chris Martin revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was rasied an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. His belief in […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
The Bible and Archaeology (3/5) For many more archaeological evidences in support of the Bible, see Archaeology and the Bible . (There are some great posts on this too at the bottom of this post.) Robert Dick Wilson at the Grove City Bible Conference in 1909. IS THE HIGHER CRITICISM SCHOLARLY?Clearly attested facts showing that thedestructive […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
Above is a clip of 12 questions for Woody Allen. Below is a list of some of his movies. WOODY’S FINEST: Philip French’s favourite five Annie Hall (1977) In his first fully achieved masterwork, a semi-autobiographical comedy in which his ex-lover Diane Keaton and best friend Tony Roberts play versions of themselves, Allen created a […]
September 3, 2011 · 5:16 PM ↓ Jump to Comments Woody Allen on the Emptiness of Life In the final scene of Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character, Isaac, is lying on the sofa with a microphone and a tape-recorder, dictating to himself an idea for a short story. It will be about “people in Manhattan,” he says, […]
As far as I know they have never done an interview together. Therefore, I have included separate interviews that they have done below and I have some links to past posts I have done on them too. Shane Warne – Chris Martin Interview (Part 1) Uploaded by HandyAndy136 on Nov 24, 2010 Originally broadcast on […]
The Bible and Archaeology (1/5) The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. _________________________- I want to make two points today. 1. There is no […]
John Lofton noted: “DR. FRIEDMAN an evolutionist with ‘values’ of unknown origin but he said they were not ‘accidental.’ “ If anyone takes time to read my blog for any length of time they can not question my respect for the life long work of Milton Friedman. He has advanced the cause of freedom […]
I’m in Monaco for the 10th forum of the Convention of Independent Financial Advisors, a Swiss-based NGO that focuses on promoting an ethical and productive environment for private investment. I moderated a couple of panels on interesting topics, including the European fiscal crisis.
Matthieu Ricard
But I want to focus on the comments of another speaker, Monsieur Matthieu Ricard, a French-born Buddhist monk. As you can see from his Wikipedia entry, he’s a very impressive individual. In addition to his other accomplishments, he serves as the French translator for the Dalai Lama.
During one of the dinners, we got into a fascinating conversation about the Buddhist concept of altruism (or at least one strain of that tradition) and Ayn Rand’s concept of selfishness, both as general ideas and as they relate to happiness.
At the risk of sounding un-libertarian, I’m siding with the monk.
Yes, coercive altruism is wrong. Indeed, it’s not even altruism, particularly if you think (like Michael Gerson or Barack Obama) it’s noble or selfless to forcibly give away other people’s money.
But Rand seemed to think (and some Randians definitely think) that voluntary acts of charity and compassion are somehow wrong. In some sense, these folks take an ultra-homo economicus view that people are relentless utility maximizers based on self interest.
If this is a correct interpretation of Randianism (perhaps I should say Objectivism?), then I think it is inadequate. Yes, people want money, and almost everybody would like more money, but I’m guessing that it is non-monetary things that make people happiest.
I don’t want to sound too warm and fuzzy and ruin my image, but aren’t children, friends, family, and love the things that make the world go ’round for most of us? Yes, we also value achievement, but even that can be unrelated to pecuniary considerations.
These are amateur ramblings on my part, and I’ve probably done a poor job of describing the views of Randians and Monsieur Ricard. Moreover, I’m sure that very intelligent people have examined this issue in a much more sophisticated fashion.
For a fiscal policy wonk like me, though, this conference and this encounter forced me to give some thought to how you can be a big fan of Ayn Rand while also feeling good about holding open doors for little old ladies.
keith green performing Asleep In The Light at Jesus West Coast 1982
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Keith Green was a great song writer and performer and the video clip above includes my favorite Keith Green song. Here is his story below:
“I repent of ever having recorded one single song and ever having performed one concert if my music, and more importantly — my life — has not provoked you into godly jealousy, or to sell out more completely to Jesus!”
Keith Green
Keith was born in New York near Brooklyn. His mom had been a singer with the Big Bands, his dad a schoolteacher. Before he was two his mom said Keith had perfect pitch as he sang his baby songs. A year later his family moved to CA and settled into the newly developed orchards of the San Fernando Valley, just a short drive to Hollywood, which would play a significant role in Keith’s future.
Keith’s parents made sure he learned how to play guitar and piano at a young age. He liked piano best, but got bored playing the long classical pieces. So instead of learning to read sheet music, he’d memorize each piece, then pretend to be site reading when his teacher was there. But his grandfather, who started Jaguar Records, the first rock and roll label, taught Keith how to play chords on the piano… and was he end of classical music for him. From that moment on Keith began writing and singing his own songs. He was only 6 years old at the time.
When he was 11 Keith signed a recording contract with Decca Records, singing his own songs. Although his pictures were in the Teen Magazines and his single had some minor success, the industry didn’t know how market with such a young artist. Keith was very disappointed and at 14, felt like a total failure, a ‘has been’ which was very difficult for someone who had been groomed all his life to be a pop star.
Keith was 15 the first time he ran away from home. He started a journal that very day and for years as he looked for musical adventure and spiritual truth, the wrote his journey down. Keith had a Jewish background, but he grew up reading the New Testament. He called it “a confusing combination” that left him deeply unsatisfied. His journey led him to drugs, eastern mysticism, and free love.
When Keith was 19 he met a fellow seeker/musician named Melody. They were inseparable and got married a year later — now he had a partner as his spiritual quest continued. Then when he had nearly given up hope, Keith found the truth he had been looking for. He now was 21 and never looked back.
Keith had grown up reading about Jesus in the bible, but was confused when he figured out he was Jewish, a fact his family had hidden from him. But now what once confused him made sense as Keith proudly told the world, “I’m a Jewish Christian.” As soon as Keith opened his heart to Jesus, he and Melody opened their home. Anyone with a need, or who wanted to kick drugs, or get off the street, was welcome. Of course, they always heard plenty about Jesus at what fondly became known as “The Greenhouse.”
Not only did Keith’s life take a radical turn, but by then he was a highly skilled musician and songwriter, and so all of his songs changed too. His quest for stardom had ended. And now his songs reflected the absolute thrill of finding Jesus and seeing his own life radically changed. Keith’s spiritual intensity not only took him beyond most people’s comfort zones, but it constantly drove him even beyond his own places of content.
Somewhat reluctantly, Keith was thrust into a “John the Baptist” type ministry — calling believers to wake up, repent, and live a life that looked like what they said they believed. Keith felt he would have met Jesus sooner if not for Christians who led double lives. He made audiences squirm by saying, “If you praise and worship Jesus with your mouth, and your life does not praise and worship him, there’s something wrong!”
The radical commitment Keith preached was also the kind of faith he wanted his own life to display. About Jesus Keith said, “Loving Him is to be our cause. He can take care of a lot of other causes without us, but He can’t make us love Him with all our heart. That’s the work we must do. Anything else is an imitation.”
Keith’s songs were often birthed during his own spiritual struggles. When he pointed his finger at hypocrisy, he knew he had four fingers pointing back at himself. He penned honest and vulnerable lyrics—but left room for God to convict the rest of us too. He knew the journey to heaven often twists through rocky valleys, and saw no value in portraying his journey as otherwise.
With Keith’s honesty, he would have chafed against a glossed-over reading of his own life. After all, Keith was in the spotlight as he grew in Jesus. So when he made mistakes, he would talk about them to portray his life honestly. He believed we miss something essential when we overlook the frailty and humanity of others as well as ourselves. He knew he was far from perfect, but he passionately hungered and thirsted after righteousness.
Keith was constantly praying, asking the Holy Spirit to, “Please change my heart, and convict me of my sin.” And when he was convicted, he took action. If he needed to repent, he repented. If he needed to phone someone to ask forgiveness, he made the call.
Keith’s views on many subjects were often controversial -– especially when it came to charging for his ministry. With his albums at the top of industry charts. Keith decided to give his albums away for whatever people could afford, even for free. Keith’s heart was to make sure those who could not afford to buy his music could get it. Since Keith and Melody felt their songs were musical ministry messages and they did not want anyone left out due to lack of funds. At last count at least 15 years ago over 200,000 albums were sent into prisions and to the poor, without charge.
The same issue arose with Keith’s concerts, which he felt were nights of ministry. After a few years of trying different ways of funding his concerts there was just one idea that gave him peace. He decided his concerts would be free so anyone who wanted could come. The ministry would rent a hall or stadium and Keith took one offering for LDM to help cover the expenses. He and Melody did not receive any of the offerings because they were able to support themselves with their music royalties.
Doing free concerts along with Keith’s new album policy were moves that sent shockwaves through the Christian music industry, causing, some record labels, bookstores, or other artists to question his motives. Some thought he wanted to undercut the system and make others look bad. But that wasn’t his heart at all and in the end it was understood he was just following his convictions.
Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 23, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider
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I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Let me show you some inescapable conclusions if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”
Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).
You can only find a lasting meaning to your life by looking above the sun and bring God back into the picture.
This was easily my favorite scene of the finale, because it spoke plainly to the much-debated dilemma of the modern woman: Can we have it all? And won’t success at work and at home bring us the happiness men have always had?
This scene reminded me of another TV boss and protege: Don Draper and Peggy Olson of Mad Men. Like Liz, Peggy has pursued success under the tutelage of an older male boss; like Jack, Don is mostly an alcoholic with a great voice. If only Liz could go back in time and explain this bit to Peggy: that having it all, that getting what the men get, is no guarantee of happiness.
Last week, the television show 30 Rock aired its series finale, and under the surface the episode was a surprisingly philosophical treatment of the question, “How can I find fulfillment in life?”
When the show began seven years ago, I—like most white, well-educated, professional women in their twenties—loved Tina Fey’s character, Liz Lemon. She was like us. Her boss Jack Donaghy neatly identified her in the very first episode: “a New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-be-happy-about-it, over-scheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says ‘healthy body image’ on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for … a week.” Her flaws and foibles were not the superficial quirks most rom-com heroines are given; despite Jack’s neat summation, Liz was a real character rather than just a character type, and we appreciated that. The show’s frenetic pace, absurd situations, and self-aware jokes displayed Tina Fey’s signature style and blazed a trail for other female writers and producers to follow.
The show, unfortunately, got worse instead of better. To be honest, I haven’t kept up with the most recent seasons. Nonetheless, out of nostalgia and an enduring affection for Tina Fey, last night I curled up with a bowl of very hot shrimp curry and my laptop to watch the final episode of 30 Rock.
There were a couple of plot lines to catch up on—I discovered that Liz Lemon is now married, with two adopted children, and that the TV show she produced, TGS, is ending. Lemon is grappling with the life of a stay at home mom and clearly misses her job. When she drops by the office to check on her boss, she finds out that she must produce one final episode of TGS, and she goes back to work.
The 30 Rock finale—amazingly enough—morphed from there into a somewhat overt exploration of the meaning of life. Facing the end of an era, the characters ask, “What did it all mean? How will I be happy now?”
This plays out differently for each of the main characters, but the quest for fulfillment can be seen most clearly in the relationship between Jack and Liz (which was arguably the best part of the show in any episode). Jack has reached the pinnacle of his career, achieving everything he’d hoped.
“Take a look at my new view,” he tells Liz in his office. “A city built on the religion of capitalism, and I am its high priest… Even those who hate me…Even they must acknowledge me as a God…”
“And this makes you happy?” she says, skeptical.
“It should…”
Then Lemon quotes Yoda: “Dark times are these.”
Recognizing his discontentment, Jack sets out to make himself happy, creating a “Six Sigma Wheel of Happiness Domination” and seeking to fulfill himself through faith, work, arts and leisure, sex and relationships, family, philanthropy, hobbies, and hair.
Despite his success in every slice of the pie chart, Jack remains unfulfilled, and tells Liz,
“Work is never going to make you happy, Lemon, and anyone who tells you differently is a fool.”
“Are you kidding me? What have we been talking about for the last seven years?”
“I don’t know anymore. For the first time in my life, I don’t know what I need. Maybe I’ll buy a boat.”
“Oh my God. This whole time you’ve been telling me how to run my life, you didn’t know what you were talking about. You’re just an alcoholic with a great voice.”
“Careful, Lemon, you’re playing with fire.”
“You made me buy into this whole life. When I met you I was perfectly happy with what I had—eating night cheese and transitioning my pajamas into daywear—you’re the one who told me to want more. And now, when I need you most, you’re bailing on me?”
But then, that truth was there all along. If Peggy had been looking for it, she could have seen it in Don Draper’s life, or in the words of Ecclesiastes:
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. (1:8-9)
In the 30 Rock finale, Jack and other characters discover that their attempts to find fulfillment fall flat—even success is meaningless. Of course, sitcoms don’t usually end on a nihilistic note, and 30 Rock is no exception.
In the final scenes, Liz rushes to stop Jack from jumping off a bridge, yelling, “There’s so much to live for! Don’t you want to see how Mad Men ends?” (Funnily enough, 30 Rock might be the best answer to the question of how Mad Men ends.) Rather than committing suicide, though, Jack is simply jumping onto a yacht, planning a soul-searching trip around the world. Being on the boat, he says, gives him new insight almost immediately—for example, he realizes that he (non-romantically) loves Lemon. Their relationship is restored. As he floats off, he comes up with a new business plan—“Clear dishwashers!”—and immediately his joie de vivre is back.
It’s not exactly the conclusion that the writer of Ecclesiastes comes to—“Fear God, and keep his commandments” (12:13)—but it’s not too far off from some of his (or her) earlier conclusions: that “there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work” (3:22), or that “two are better than one” (4:9), or that “when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God” (5:19).
The answers that Liz and Jack find are incomplete, but that doesn’t mean that 30 Rock doesn’t shine a light on the very truth of the human condition: that there is nothing new under the sun, and that our attempts to attain happiness are often meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
As Christians, sometimes we skip that part. We gloss over the difficult truths about our world, skipping merrily past the existential angst, the broken realities of a sin-marred creation, and going straight to the happy shiny Jesus truth.
But what I loved about 30 Rock, when it was at its best, was how it told the truth about the way that success and popularity and work and relationships and money and pleasure and food (with Lemon, always the food) don’t fix us. They’re just band-aids, and what we need is open heart surgery.
Just as we loved Tina Fey for her realistic flaws, we loved 30 Rock for pointing out some of the absurdities and angst in what it means to be human. Maybe the Church should be willing to pause there, with Tina Fey and the author of Ecclesiastes, for a little while longer too.
This from the American Humanist website: This week we’re pleased to publish a new poem “Ecclesiastes” by Frank S. Robinson. Frank S. Robinson is a retired New York State administrative law judge, a rare coin dealer, and author of five books, most recently The Case for Rational Optimism. He is married to the poet Therese […]
Tampa Bay Rays apologize for Avril Lavigne TMZ reported: According to local reports, Avril’s mic didn’t work at the start of her show … and she responded to the cavalcade of boos by yelling obscenities at crowd. Rays rep Rick Vaughn tells TMZ, “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
Chris Martin revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was rasied an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. His belief in […]
Picture of Adrian Rogers above from 1970′s while pastor of Bellevue Baptist of Memphis, and president of Southern Baptist Convention. (Little known fact, Rogers was the starting quarterback his senior year of the Palm Beach High School football team that won the state title and a hero to a 7th grader at the same school named […]
Chris Martin revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was rasied an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. His belief in […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
The Bible and Archaeology (3/5) For many more archaeological evidences in support of the Bible, see Archaeology and the Bible . (There are some great posts on this too at the bottom of this post.) Robert Dick Wilson at the Grove City Bible Conference in 1909. IS THE HIGHER CRITICISM SCHOLARLY?Clearly attested facts showing that thedestructive […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
Above is a clip of 12 questions for Woody Allen. Below is a list of some of his movies. WOODY’S FINEST: Philip French’s favourite five Annie Hall (1977) In his first fully achieved masterwork, a semi-autobiographical comedy in which his ex-lover Diane Keaton and best friend Tony Roberts play versions of themselves, Allen created a […]
September 3, 2011 · 5:16 PM ↓ Jump to Comments Woody Allen on the Emptiness of Life In the final scene of Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character, Isaac, is lying on the sofa with a microphone and a tape-recorder, dictating to himself an idea for a short story. It will be about “people in Manhattan,” he says, […]
As far as I know they have never done an interview together. Therefore, I have included separate interviews that they have done below and I have some links to past posts I have done on them too. Shane Warne – Chris Martin Interview (Part 1) Uploaded by HandyAndy136 on Nov 24, 2010 Originally broadcast on […]
The Bible and Archaeology (1/5) The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. _________________________- I want to make two points today. 1. There is no […]
John Lofton noted: “DR. FRIEDMAN an evolutionist with ‘values’ of unknown origin but he said they were not ‘accidental.’ “ If anyone takes time to read my blog for any length of time they can not question my respect for the life long work of Milton Friedman. He has advanced the cause of freedom […]
In 1980 economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman inspired market reform in the West and revolutions in the East with his celebrated television series “Free To Choose.”
Thirty years later, in this one-hour documentary, the young Swedish writer, analyst and Cato Institute Fellow Johan Norberg travels in Friedman’s footsteps to see what has
actually happened in the places Friedman’s ideas helped transform. In location after location Norberg examines the contemporary relevance of Friedman’s ideas in the 2011 world of globalization and financial crisis. Central to his examination are the perennial questions concerning power and prosperity, and the trade-offs between individual liberty and income equality.
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I have enjoyed reading this series of reviews by T. Kurt Jaros on Milton and Rose Friedman’s book “Free to Choose.” I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
T. Kurt Jaros is currently a Master’s student studying Systematic Theology at King’s College in London. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science cum laude and an M.A. in Christian Apologetics high honors from Biola University, an evangelical Christian university outside of Los Angeles.
He enjoys learning and thinking about theology, specifically historical theology, philosophical theology and philosophy of religion, and issues pertaining to monergism and synergism. Additionally, he enjoys learning and thinking about political philosophy, economics, American political history, and campaigns.
This is part of a series on Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose.”
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the introduction to Free to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman. In this post, I will explore some of the points from the first chapter, “The Power of the Market.”
Friedman begins the chapter by explaining the difference between a command and a voluntary economy. Like a military, there is a chain of commands that take place. Yet the general cannot be entirely accountable for everything that a private does. That is why “commands must be supplemented by voluntary cooperation,” which is a more fundamental technique of coordinating activities. Friedman argues that there is no society that operates entirely on the command method or the voluntary method. Even in the Soviet Union there were moonlighters who would take extra pay to fix a household problem same day than for the homeowner to wait months for the government.
The market functions in not-so-obvious ways. Leonard E. Read wrote a story about how a pencil is made, from the forests of northwestern America to the factories in Indonesia. Yet at the store, we exchange some of our money for some pencils. Astoundingly, “no one sitting in a central office gave orders to these thousands of people” and “no military police enforced the orders that were not given.” How could this be? Adam Smith understood this clearly: “if an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both believe they will benefit from it.” Smith observed that in a free market, buyers and sellers would coordinate together voluntarily to make everyone better off. Economic order emerges from individuals seeking their own interest.
The price system that forms helps to naturally regulate the market in three ways: transmits information, incentivizes price efficiency and distributes income.
1. Transmits information: Only necessary information is transmitted between buyer and sellers. This includes information of changes in demand and supply but not causes of the changes. “A major problem in transmitting information efficiently is to make sure that everyone who can use the information gets it without clogging the ‘in’ baskets of those who have no use for it.” The price system naturally solves the problem because the people who are looking for the information search it out to better their situation. From the consumer’s perspective, this explains why I spend so much time looking for good deals between different grocery stores! However, the government can also me a major source of interference with the natural market when it sets tariffs on international trade, fixes wages and prices, regulates certain industries, and produces erratic inflation.
2. Incentivizes price efficiency: Understanding incentives was the easiest of the three natural regulations for me to grasp. As consumers, if there is a high price for an item, we tend to economize as much as we can to get our money’s worth. My wife is always getting on to me for trying to penny-pinch, and that’s more true for the larger purchases we make. But producers also have incentives when it comes to running a business. They want to run a business as cheaply as possible to maximize their profit. Additionally, workers consider incentives. “Satisfaction in a job may compensate for low wages. On the other hand, higher wages may compensate for a disagreeable job.”
3. Distributes income: Lastly, the market redistributes wealth in a natural way. Some people are unhappy with the distribution of wealth and so look to where they think the grass is greener. “In a command system envy and dissatisfaction are directed at the rulers. In a free market system they are directed at the markets.” However, “fixing” the free market causes disincentives and leads to inefficiencies of wealth growth. The command system is worse. Workers are unhappy when bureaucracies tell them what to do and when the government builds things, nobody takes responsibility for them: “when everybody owns something, nobody owns it, and nobody has a direct interest in maintaining or improving its condition.” The command system does not transmit information or incentivize as efficiently as the free market, and it distorts the incentives for various income distributions.
Next time I’ll explain the role of a government in a free market.
Johan Norberg vs. Naomi Klein and The Shock Doctrine
Swedish author Johan Norberg sits down with reason.tv’s Michael C. Moynihan to discuss Naomi Klein’s diastrous yet popular polemic against the great free market economist Milton Friedman.
I must say that I have lots of respect for Reason Magazine and for their admiration of Milton Friedman. However, I do disagree with one phrase below. At the end of this post I will tell you what sentence it is. Uploaded by ReasonTV on Jul 28, 2011 There’s no way to appreciate fully the […]
Milton Friedman on Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” 1994 Interview 1 of 2 Uploaded by PenguinProseMedia on Oct 25, 2011 Says Federal Reserve should be abolished, criticizes Keynes. One of Friedman’s best interviews, discussion spans Friedman’s career and his view of numerous political figures and public policy issues. ___________________ Two Lucky People by Milton and Rose Friedman […]
What a great man Milton Friedman was. The Legacy of Milton Friedman November 18, 2006 Alexander Tabarrok Great economist by day and crusading public intellectual by night, Milton Friedman was my hero. Friedman’s contributions to economics are profound, the permanent income hypothesis, the resurrection of the quantity theory of money, and his magnum opus with […]
Milton Friedman videos and transcripts Part 7 On my blog http://www.thedailyhatch.org I have an extensive list of posts that have both videos and transcripts of MiltonFriedman’s interviews and speeches. Here below is just small list of those and more can be accessed by clicking on “Milton Friedman” on the side of this page or searching […]
Milton Friedman at Hillsdale College 2006 July 2006 Free to Choose: A Conversation with Milton Friedman Milton Friedman Economist Milton Friedman is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946-1976. Dr. Friedman received the Nobel Memorial […]
Milton Friedman said that getting George Bush I to be his vice president was his biggest mistake because he knew that Bush was not a true conservative and sure enough George Bush did raise taxes when he later became President. Below is a speech by George W. Bush honoring Milton Friedman: Milton Friedman Honored for […]
Below is a discussion from Milton Friedman on Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. February 10, 1999 | Recorded on February 10, 1999 audio, video, and blogs » uncommon knowledge PRESIDENTIAL REPORT CARD: Milton Friedman on the State of the Union with guest Milton Friedman Milton Friedman, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution and Nobel Laureate in […]
Milton Friedman and Chile – The Power of Choice Uploaded by FreeToChooseNetwork on May 13, 2011 In this excerpt from Free To Choose Network’s “The Power of Choice (2006)”, we set the record straight on Milton Friedman’s dealings with Chile — including training the Chicago Boys and his meeting with Augusto Pinochet. Was the tremendous […]
Milton Friedman’s negative income tax explained by Friedman in 1968: President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a […]
Milton Friedman on the American Economy (5 of 6) Uploaded by donotswallow on Aug 9, 2009 THE OPEN MIND Host: Richard D. Heffner Guest: Milton Friedman Title: A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy VTR: 5/31/77 _____________________________________ Below is a transcipt from a portion of an interview that Milton Friedman gave on 5-31-77: Friedman: […]
David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR.
As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me To Life” in 2004. Evanescence’s debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
David went on to write and produce Kelly Clarkson’s biggest worldwide single to date, “Because Of You”, which appeared on Clarkson’s 11 million-selling album Breakaway and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song Of The Year honor. The song was covered by Reba McEntire as the first single off her Duets album, and quickly rose up the country charts in 2007 becoming McEntire’s 30th Top 2 country single.
Hodges also penned the single, “What About Now”, which appears on American Idol Chris Daughtry’s debut album Daughtry. The 4x platinum Daughtry to date is credited as the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. “What About Now” also happens to be the first single on Westlife’s album “Who We Are.” David also won a BMI Pop award for this song.
David wrote the first single “Crush” for American Idol’s David Archuleta, which had the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. David has since written songs for & released by Carrie Underwood, Train, Christina Perri, Celine Dion, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, The Cab, & many others.
In less than 10 years, David Hodges has been nominated for 6 Grammys & 1 Golden Globe, has won 5 BMI pop awards & 1 BMI country award, has had at least one album in the Billboard 200 for the last 8 consecutive years, and has written on albums that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
“Because of You” is a song by American recording artist Kelly Clarkson for her second studio album Breakaway (2004). It was written by Clarkson along with its producers David Hodges and Ben Moody. It was released on August 16, 2005 by RCA Records, as the fourth single (third in Europe) from Breakaway. Clarkson originally wrote “Because of You” when she was 16 years old to cope with the emotional distress caused by her parents’ divorce. She wanted the song to be included on her debut studio album, Thankful (2003), but her record label thought that it was not suitable to be included in the album. She then polished the song with Hodges and Moody before successfully convincing her label to include it in Breakaway.
Lyrically, “Because of You” explores the pain of a deteriorating relationship. Critics noted that the lyrics are Clarkson’s ode to her father. The song begins with a piano-led melody and as it launches into the chorus, the sound of a roaring guitar becomes apparent. Critically, “Because of You” garnered positive reviews by music critics, who praised its expressive lyrics, creative arrangement and Clarkson’s vocal prowess. It became Clarkson’s most successful single around the world; in the United States, it peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 1.5 million digital downloads. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, “Because of You” topped the charts in the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland as well as reaching the top ten in Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
The song’s accompanying music video was directed by Vadim Perelman. Clarkson wrote the treatment for the video herself in order to reflect the pain that the she felt due to her parents’ divorce. The video’s plot centers on Clarkson engaging in a heated argument with her husband in front of her child before realizing that she was repeating her parents’ mistake. It won in the category for Best Female Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. “Because of You” was performed live at numerous venues, including the My December Tour (2007) as well as the All I Ever Wanted Tour (2009). It was covered by several artists including Ronan Parke, who is a runner-up in the fifth series of Britain’s Got Talent. In 2007, the song was recorded by Reba McEntire as a duet with Clarkson, which was released as a lead single for McEntire’s album Reba: Duets.
“My biggest song worldwide is Because of You, and … you may as well grab a knife. That song really is the most depressing one I’ve ever written. I tried to get it on Thankful, and was laughed at and told I wasn’t a good writer. So then I tried to get it on Breakaway – and the label saw the results, people responding to it, and allowed it to become a single. Then took credit for its success, of course.”
—Clarkson on trying to get the track into her album, Thankful. [1]
“Because of You” was written by Clarkson, David Hodges and Ben Moody while the production was handled by Hodges and Moody.[2] They also wrote and produced another track entitled “Addicted” that appeared in Clarkson’s album Breakaway (2004).[3] Clarkson originally wrote “Because of You” when she was 16 years old as a means of coping with the emotional distress caused by the divorce of her parents.[4][5] She wrote the lyrics of the song in less than 25 minutes.[3]
In an interview with The Guardian, Clarkson said that she wanted to include the song in her first album, Thankful (2003), but she was laughed at.[1] Then, she took the initiative to polish the song by sending a tape to Moody and worked with Hodges as her songwriting partner. Clarkson explained, “Hearing the Evanescence album, you can obviously tell that David and Ben have a real passion for music and that big kind of background. And I have a big voice and I like the music to match it, so it was a real dream team.”[3]
According to Moody, he was very impressed with Clarkson and the song itself, saying “She had these ideas already in place for songs; all I really had to do was build music around them and develop them. It was quite easy.”[2] Clarkson also admitted that “Because of You” is the most depressing song she has ever written.[1] Despite the revelation, she told Entertainment Weekly in August 2011 that she wanted to be remembered for the song because she had to work hard to get it on Breakaway (2004) when everyone was against it. She added, “I think I’m most proud of that song – just getting it on an album because no one liked it until it hit no. 1 worldwide and everybody was on board.”[6]
“Because of You” is a piano ballad[7] with a length of three minutes and thirty-nine seconds.[8] It is set in common time and has a moderate tempo of 69 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of F minor, and then modulated to the key of G minor, with Clarkson’s vocal range spanning over two octaves from Ab3 to Eb5.[9] Bill Lamb of About.com described the song as “a big pop ballad that expresses raw emotion.”[10] Tony Heywood of MusicOMH noted that the song’s piano arrangement is reminiscent of Tori Amos.[11] Lyrically, “Because of You” is a fiery ode to Clarkson’s father,[12] which is a dark exploration of emotional pain from a damaging relationship.[13] The song begins with Clarkson singing “oohs” over a somber piano which creates a “wintry tone.”[14] As the song launches into the chorus, the roaring guitar is evident,[15] and the lyrics, “Because of you I never stray too far from the sidewalk / Because of you I learned to play on the safe side so I don’t get hurt,” were deemed as “touching” by Dave Donelly of Sputnikmusic.[12]
Critical reception
“Because of You” received universal critical acclaim. Film Laureate of Blogcritics considered “Because of You” and “Where Is Your Heart” as his two favorite songs from Breakaway, writing “[Clarkson] commands these two songs like a seasoned pro and directs herself in her songs the way Steven Spielberg said Barbra Streisand directs herself in her songs as if she’s directing an actor in a movie.”[16] Dave Donnelly of Sputnikmusic compared the song to Evanescence‘s “My Immortal” (2003). He added that Clarkson managed to take the piano-driven song in a different direction with a “stormy, hard blues vocal… avoiding the typical raised-key final chorus cliché along the way”.[12] On the other hand, Bill Lamb of About.com lambasted the lyrics of the song and considered it as a 16-year-old work rather than an accomplished pop songwriter.[10] Christa L. Titus of Billboard lauded the song for its absence of schmaltz factor, “only a potent, pained, grown-up anthem of gross betrayal and loss.” She concluded her review, writing “it is time for Clarkson to return to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; she has certainly become the most consistent hope for top 40 staple status.”[17] Critics also lauded Clarkson’s vocal prowess in the song. Pam Avoledo of Blogcritics thought that vocally, the song is Clarkson’s “shining” moment.[18] Tony Heywood of MusicOMH noted that in the song, Clarkson’s voice is “full of vulnerability, ache and wounded pride.”[11] In May 15, 2007, the song was listed as one of the recipients of BMI Pop Awards.[19] At the 24th ASCAP Pop Music Awards, the song was honoured with the Most Performed Songs award.[20] On July 2008, BBC News reported that according to Performing Right Society, “Because of You” was the second most played song in the United Kingdom over the last five years, following Daniel Powter‘s “Bad Day (2005).”[21] On March 5, 2013 Billboard ranked the song #7 in its list of Top 100 American Idol Hits of All Time.[22]
Chart performance
“Because of You” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 99 on the week ending September 3, 2005.[23] On November 19, 2005, the song peaked at number seven and became her sixth single to reach the top-ten.[24][25] It also topped the Pop Songs chart on the week ending October 29, 2005.[26] It became the seventh best selling single of the 2000s decade on the Pop Songs chart complied by Billboard.[27] On January 31, 2008, “Because of You” was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[28] As of October 2012, the song has sold 1,729,000 digital copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[29] In Canada, “Because of You” debuted at number 60 on the Canadian Hot 100 on the week ending July 14, 2007.[30] Two weeks later, the song jumped to a new peak at number 36 and stayed in the position for two weeks.[31] It was certified gold by Music Canada on December 4, 2007 for shipments over 40,000 units.[32] The single also appeared and peaked on the UK Singles Chart at number seven on the week ending December 4, 2005.[33]
In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number four on the issue dated December 5, 2005.[34] It was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments over 35,000 units.[35] The song became the 58th best-selling single in Australia in 2006.[36] In New Zealand, “Because of You” debuted on New Zealand Singles Chart at number 37 on the week ending December 5, 2005,[37] and peaked at number 19 two weeks later.[38] On the week ending March 20, 2006, “Because of You” debuted at number eight on the German Singles Chart.[39] Three weeks later, it peaked at number four and stayed in the position for three consecutive weeks.[39] The song was certified gold by The Federal Association of Music Industry for shipments over 150,000 copies.[40] In Europe, “Because of You” received a commercial success. The song topped the charts in the Netherlands[41] and Switzerland[42] and reached the top five in Austria,[43] Belgium (Flanders),[44] Ireland[45] and Norway.[46]
Music video
Development
The accompanying music video for “Because of You” was directed by Vadim Perelman and was produced by Rhonda Vernet.[47] Clarkson wrote the treatment for the video herself in order to reflect the pain that the she felt due to her parents’ divorce.[48] Nevertheless, Clarkson also allowed Perelman to take control of the production of the video.[49] According to Perelman, he wanted to create a disconnection to show “that this kind of dysfunctional family can exist anywhere.”[50] In an interview with MTV News, Clarkson confessed that the video is sad, rationalizing, “It’s a sad song, so the video obviously has to follow that. But it ends really happy and everything and the family, my family, ends up breaking the cycle of my parents.”[49] Since the music video deals specifically with her parents’ divorce, Clarkson had to seek for her parent’s permission. She explained,
“It’s very close to home [for me]. I OK’d it with my family and everything because they think it’s important, because we’re obviously very different now than we were when we were younger. And it’s important for people to see that raw kind of emotion that happens in life. It sucks sometimes, so it’s important to see that I think. And that’s what we’re portraying in the video.”[49]
In the video, the younger version of Clarkson is played by Kennedy Nöel, the daughter of her musical director, Jason Halbert.[51] The music video of “Because of You” premiered on October 3, 2005, on Total Request Live.[50]
Synopsis
Clarkson and her younger self (Kennedy Nöel) in the music video of “Because of You.”
The video starts at the Clarkson’s household. There, she and her husband are engaged in a heated argument and he threatens to smash down a picture of the family at one point. Time freezes still and her husband becomes immobile; Clarkson, however, is immune to this. Looking around her house, she sees her younger self. Hand in hand, the younger and older versions of Clarkson relive her troubled childhood as various painful memories are seen, such as the younger Clarkson making a picture for her father, who tosses it into the sink, and Clarkson’s mother making an unappreciated dinner for her father as she puts the father’s dinner into the bin. These events drive her mother to the point of taking pills and crying in front of the younger Clarkson. The breaking point is finally seen when Clarkson’s parents have a physical fight and throw objects at each other. Soon after, Clarkson’s father packs his bags and leaves. The older Clarkson runs back in time to the present and instead of fighting with her husband, they make up. They then see that their daughter in the video had seen them fight, and they embrace her and each other. Throughout the music video, Clarkson is shown singing on the front porch, her mother’s bed and a room full of mirrors, reflecting an image of her younger self.[49]
Clarkson performed “Because of You” at the 48th Grammy Awards which took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Donning a red dress and singing from beside a grand piano, her performance in that event garnered positive reviews from critics. Elysa Gardner of USA Today lauded Clarkson’s performance and ranked it as one of the three best performances, writing, “The pre-performance clip of a girlish-looking Clarkson emphasized how little Kelly has matured. The girl most likely to escape the American Idol stigma was in fine, creamy voice, and kept the Mariah-esque riffing to a minimum.”[62] Robert Lloyd of Los Angeles Times considered Clarkson’s performance as one of the highlights in the event and described her performance as a “thin-skinned rendition […] in which her whole being seemed involved.”[63]Yahoo! Music praised Clarkson’s rendition of the song, calling it “perfectly fine” despite the saying that it was “a little reminiscent of those many mediocre, superficial ballads trotted out on ‘Idol.'”[64] On August 21, 2007, Clarkson performed “Because of You” and “Never Again” (2007) on the fifth season of Canadian Idol.[65]
“Because of You” was performed at the My December Tour (2007). Clarkson’s performance of the song was accompanied only by Wurlitzer organ that earned her a prolonged ovation when she sent her voice soaring into the rafters.[66] While touring at Beacon Theatre, New York City, Clarkson performed the song using only one keyboard, which was deemed by Donna Freydkin of USA Today as the most memorable moment of the event.[67] She also performed the song using only a keyboard as an instrument during her tour at Massey Hall, Toronto.[68] “Because of You” was also performed at the All I Ever Wanted Tour (2009). Clarkson’s performance of the song during the tour in the Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, was given a positive review by Jim Cantiello of MTV. He explained that Clarkson’s powerful rendition “literally stopped the show […] for almost 30 seconds because the audience erupted in such wild applause.”[69] Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone noted that Clarkson sang the song to pay homage to Reba McEntire who was in the audience.[70]
On June 4, 2011, Britain’s Got Talent contestant, Ronan Parke covered “Because of You” in the finale of the fifth series of the show. His performance garnered standing ovation from the audience as well as the four judges.[121] Parke also recorded the song and included it in his debut album, Ronan Parke. In an interview with Digital Spy, Parke stated that it was really challenging to record “Because of You.” He added, “I asked the producer if we could leave out some of the big notes. We left them until the end and I was actually a bit scared by the noise that came out of me – I didn’t know I could sound that loud!”[122]Lisa Tucker covered the song on the fifth season of American Idol. However, her performance was met with negative reviews from the judges and she was consequently eliminated from the show.[123][124] “Because of You” was also covered by Kim Bo Kyung, who was a contestant in South Korean singing competition show, Superstar K2. Her performance received positive response from the judges and was considered as one of the highlights in the show even though she failed to advance into the Top 11.[125] Following her elimination, she recorded the studio version of “Because of You” which was released as a digital download by Sony Music Entertainment due to an overwhelming demand.[126] She also received a personal video message from Clarkson who gave her words of advice and support.[127] The song also was covered by Orange Caramel, a South Korean girl group, on Christmas Day for MBC‘s special programme, “ICON”.[128]
In 2007, Clarkson re-recorded “Because of You” as a duet with American country singer Reba McEntire. The song was released as a single on May 15, 2007, as the lead single for McEntire’s album, Reba: Duets. The duet garnered mixed reviews from critics who felt that even though McEntire’s singing was pleasant, she brought nothing new to the song. At the 50th Grammy Awards, McEntire and Clarkson received a nomination in the category of Best Vocal Country Collaboration for the song. In the United States, “Because of You” became McEntire’s seventh song to peak at number two at Hot Country Songs. It also became Clarkson’s first song to appear on the chart. The music video was directed by Roman White which depicts McEntire and Clarkson as two retro Hollywood lounge singers. The plot centers on Clarkson’s relationship with her abusive partner which is witnessed by McEntire. The song was performed live by the two singers in various venues, notably at the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards and during their 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour.
According to McEntire, Clarkson was the first singer to pair up with her for the album Reba: Duets (2007).[129] She also claimed that “Because of You” was not the original song to be included in the album; it was another song that she recorded with Clarkson entitled “A Lot Like You.”[130] McEntire explained that it was Narvel, her husband, who convinced her to go back in the studio and record “Because of You” after he heard both McEntire and Clarkson rehearsing the song.[129] She expressed, “Narvel saw it. That wasn’t one of the songs we had talked about recording – matter of fact, Kelly and I had already recorded a song, ‘A Lot Like You,’ for the duet project, and he said, ‘You’ve got to do this one together,’ so we did.”[130] Musically, the song is different from the original version. Thom Jhurek of Allmusic described the duet version as “a big, overblown power ballad” which incorporates “guitars compressed to the breaking point, sweeping strings, and enormous crashing cymbals.”[131] The use of violin was also incorporated into the duet, giving it a melodramatic quality that was deemed “unnecessary” by Nancy Dunham of Blogcritics.[132] The song was officially sent to radio stations on May 15, 2007, as the lead single from the album.[133] It was added to country radio playlists on May 28, 2007.[134]
Critical reception
The song received mixed reviews from critics. Lana Cooper of PopMatters loved the duet and deemed it as “the most unique track on the album.”[135] She also felt that McEntire and Clarkson complemented each other in the song, writing “The double-feature cover of Clarkson’s hit showcases two women with exceptional and distinctive voices playing to one another’s strengths.”[135] The same opinion was echoed by Nancy Dunham of Blogcritics who believed that “the two use just the right amount of vocal passion to make the ardent lyrics come alive, but stay out of the cheese zone.”[132] Scott Sexton of About.com lauded the duet version of the song, writing “As of now anything Reba touches turns to gold, but with this hit alone she has a great shot at platinum.”[136] Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe praised McEntire’s beautiful singing although he said that she did not bring “anything new” to the song.[137] He also added that the song “had the potential to be reworked into an interesting mother/daughter confrontation” but he was disappointed because McEntire did not change the viewpoints of the song.[137] He graded the production of the song as “C-“, writing “The end result is the song doesn’t make any sense, and is just confusing to listen to.”[138] Thom Jurek of Allmusic criticized the instrumentation of the song, saying “This could have been a Meat Loaf reject from Bat out of Hell II.”[131] Gayle Thompson of The Boot ranked “Because of You” at number ten in his list of “Top 20 Reba McEntire songs.”[139] He also included both McEntire and Clarkson at number six for their duet of “Because of You” in his list of “Cross Country: Top 10 Country-Pop Duets.”[140] Gary Trust of Billboard listed the pair as one of the 10 all-female hit collaborations that have scaled Billboard charts in recent years.[141] On March 5, 2013 Billboard ranked the song #71 in its list of Top 100 American Idol Hits of All Time.[142]
At the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, McEntire and Clarkson received a nomination in the category of Musical Event of the Year for “Because of You,” but lost to Tracy Lawrence with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw for their collaboration in “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” (2006).[143] At the 50th Grammy Awards, McEntire and Clarkson received a nomination in the category of Best Vocal Country Collaboration for the song, but lost to Willie Nelson and Ray Price.[144] The pair also received a nomination for the Vocal Event of the Year at the 2008 Academy of Country Music, but lost to Tracy Lawrence with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw for their collaboration in “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.”[145] At the 2008 ASCAP Country Music Awards, the song was honoured with the Most Performed Songs award.[146]
Chart performance
McEntire and Clarkson singing “Because of You” as part of the encore in 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour.
In the United States, “Because of You” debuted at number 42 on the Hot Country Songs on the week ending June 2, 2007.[147][148][149] On the week ending September 8, 2007, the song jumped to its new peak at number two and was held off the top spot by Rodney Atkins‘ “These Are My People” (2007).[150] It became McEntire’s seventh song to peak at number two, and her first in over ten years.[151] Had the song jumped to number one, it would have been McEntire’s 23rd number one song on the chart as well as the first remake of a pop song to top Hot Country Songs since Mark Chesnutt‘s cover of Aerosmith‘s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” spent two weeks at number one in 1999.[152] “Because of You” also made an appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 52,[153] and peaked at number 50.[154] In Canada, the song peaked at number 36 on the week ending July 21, 2007.[155]
Music video
The music video, directed by Roman White, debuted on June 21, 2007.[156][157] It depicts McEntire and Clarkson as 1930’s Hollywood lounge singers. In the video, McEntire encounters Clarkson attempting to conceal a bruise inflicted by the latter’s abusive partner. When Clarkson’s boyfriend is fighting with her, McEntire leaves the dressing room. While performing on stage, Clarkson witnesses her boyfriend flirting with another woman. After the performance, she smashes a vase out of anger in the dressing room. Her boyfriend enters the room to take her out for the rest of the evening. Though apprehensive, Clarkson leaves on his arm before looking back uncertainly at McEntire, who uncomfortably fiddles with a hairbrush as she watches them leave. The music video hit number one on CMT’s Top 20 Countdown on September 13, 2007.[158] At the 2008 Country Music Television Awards, the music video received nominations for three awards. It received a nomination for the Video of the Year, but lost to Taylor Swift‘s “Our Song” (2007) and for the Collaborative Video of the Year, but lost to Bon Jovi featuring LeAnn Rimes, “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore” (2007). Roman White, who directed the music video, received a nomination for the Video Director of the Year, but lost to Michael Salomon.[159]
Live performances
McEntire and Clarkson first performed “Because of You” together at the 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2007.[160] A month later, the pair performed the song in an episode of CMT Crossroads at Ryman Auditorium which debuted on Country Music Television on June 24, 2007.[161] On September 19, 2007, they appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show where they sang the song together.[162] “Because of You” was also performed as the encore of the 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour (2008), a co-headlining concert tour by McEntire and Clarkson.[163]
Christina Perri ‘Safe Haven’ Interview- New Album Coming! Published on Feb 6, 2013 http://bit.ly/ClevverMusic – Subscribe to ClevverMusic! We caught up with “Jar of Hearts” singer Christina Perri at the Safe Haven movie premiere where her song “Arms” is featured on the soundtrack. We chatted with her on the red carpet about the song, and […]
David Hodges is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock and he co-wrote the song “A Thousand Years,”with Christina Perri. It was featured in the movie “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” David is one of the three founding members of Evanescence and he has written for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, […]
The “American Idol” contestant-turned-actress is getting positive reviews for her role in “Smash.” The singer plays an actress who is competing for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway show. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “‘Glee’ for grownups” and Entertainment Weekly calls McPhee “mediocre” but “very likable.” Great song: Uploaded by KatharineMcPheeVEVO on Nov […]
Little Rock native and Arkansas Baptist High School graduate David Hodges co-wrote a song for the blockbuster movie “Breaking Dawn” that comes out this Friday. Interview: Breaking Dawn’s Christina Perri Twi’s Hard, Dreams Big By Leah Collins, Dose.ca Nov 1, 2011 More Images » OMG. Christina Perri went from a […]
On June 28, 2013 Underwood was back on top with a song that Little Rock native David Hodges who graduated at Arkansas Baptist High School help write. Carrie Underwood “Sees” No. 1 Again onTop 20 By Sarah Wyland | Leave a Comment Carrie Underwood photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville. Carrie Underwood current single title is prophetic. She makes […]
Keith Green performing “So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt” live at West Coast 1980
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This song really shows Keith’s humor, but it really has great message. Keith also had a great newsletter that went out every month and I always enjoyed reading it. Below is a portion of an article he wrote and I still remember some of the things he said over 30 years ago when I first read it.
In Numbers 13, we find that the complaints against Moses and Aaron have really heated up. What’s key for us is the way they handled it.
At the Lord’s command Moses chose 12 men to go spy out the land of Canaan. He didn’t send flunkies, but the leaders of the tribes. Joshua and Caleb led them across the Jordan to see if the land was fertile and how hard it would be to conquer. They returned with a cluster of grapes so big it took two men to carry it. They also returned with two different reports. Caleb was full of faith. He said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.” (vs. 30)
But the other men who went with Joshua and Caleb “gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report wesaying, ‘The land…devours it’s inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.’” They dragged out some old wives’ tale about a tribe of giants called Nephilim and said they were like mere grasshoppers in comparison. They totally lost sight of God and brought back a bad report about the Promised Land.
Well, one thing the Israelites knew how to do by now was complain and they spent all night doing it. By morning everyone was grumbling against Moses and Aaron. They wanted to kill them, and appoint a new leader, and return to Egypt. How stupid. Did they think God would open the Red Sea for them again? Or that the Egyptians would be happy to see them after they had drowned their whole army?
Anyway, the people went to kill Moses and Aaron and just before the stones began to fly “the glory of the Lord appeared... to all the Israelites” (Num. 14:10). God offers to take care of the problem for Moses, saying, “I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.” (vs. 12) God was offering Moses the same covenant He’d made with Abraham! This was Moses’ big chance!
But what did Moses do? He prayed for those complaining, rebellious people! He said, “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Thy lovingkindness, just as Thou also hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (vs. 19) Moses did just what Jesus commands us to do when He said, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven we..” (Matt. 5:44-45)
Remember Saul? Who do you think was praying for him on the road to Damascus? Saul was the most vicious Christian-killer in the land and the Christians were probably on their knees crying out on his behalf. God made Saul into a new man with a new name. And on the cross, when Jesus had been scourged, spat upon, and deserted by His closest friends, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
There’s a big difference between people who say they’re followers of Jesus and people who follow Jesus. Moses asked God to forgive the people of Israel, and reminded Him of His compassion. In other words, “This won’t be too good for Your glory or fame throughout the world if you kill these people.” Here’s a man unselfishly reasoning with God. Does God need to be reminded about His nature? No. But God needs to be reminded we believe His nature. God didn’t strike the people dead, but Joshua and Caleb were the only ones of that generation He let into the Promised Land.
When you step out into the Wilderness of Faith, it’s a one way ticket. You either die in the wilderness, or you enter the Promised Land. You can’t go back to the world.
Many people think they can, but they’re never the same. They are jaded, cynical, sarcastic. Some turn reprobate. I’m not talking about backsliding, I’m talking about completely turning away from the Lord and denying Him. They spiritually die out in the wilderness.
Let me ask you this: Are you willing to forgive those who hurt you? Or do you complain, gossip, and backbite? Do you ask God to “get them” or do you pray for mercy? Moses’ prayer saved the people of Israel from instant destruction. Our prayers can change the hearts of our enemies. They can even change their eternal destiny.
We can obey God, or act according to our flesh. The greatest plan for victory over our enemies is prayer. Prayer shows our belief in the mercy and power of God. If we reject God’s Word, we reject Him. When we complain about the one who has wronged us instead of praying for him, we end up being the loser. Grumbling and complaining is evidence of our unbelief in God’s sovereignty and His ability to work things out for His glory and our good.
In Closing
Let’s take a “relationship inventory.” Are you holding on to hurts? Bitterness? Are you in competition, or a battle with someone? Are you walking in unbelief? Maybe your flesh has opened the door to an ungrateful spirit. Ask God’s forgiveness for your grumbling and complaining right now. He can soften your heart and give you a spirit like His, willing to do battle in prayer – even for your enemies.
Thank you Lord for giving us Your own Spirit which doesn’t only come upon us, but lives inside of us by Your Word. Lord Jesus, help us to believe in You and in others. Help us give a good report of all men and of all ministries. And Lord we ask forgiveness for grumbling and murmuring and complaining because we know You hate it. It’s the greatest proof of our unbelief. God we want to be believers, not just in word, but also in deed. Spank us quickly if we murmur and complain before it grows into the sin of Israel – and send Your blessing of believing faith upon us. We love You Lord Jesus.
Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 16, 2012 | Derek Neider
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I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Let me show you some inescapable conclusions if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”
Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).
You can only find a lasting meaning to your life by looking above the sun and bring God back into the picture.
(Ed Young is senior pastor of one of America’s largest and fastest-growing congregations, the Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas. Located on a large, contemporary campus in suburban Houston — featured in a full-page illustration in USA Today — the church offers a model of reaching and involving young and median adults. Young is seen weekly on a nationally-televised program featuring the worship service at Second Baptist.)
Preaching: Your newest book — Been There, Done That, Now What? — deals with the increasing sense of life’s meaninglessness and the lack of value of life that seems so prevalent in American culture today. As you minister to your own congregation, do you find that to be a common attitude, particularly with baby boomers?Young: Absolutely. With boomers and busters. I think that in different ways everyone is looking for meaning and they try many different channels. In reading the book of Ecclesiastes, I realized this was Solomon also: been there, done that, now what? Solomon wrote three books in the Bible: Song of Solomon — a romantic book, it’s filled with chemistry and love and great words that sizzle of his first love. Then he wrote Proverbs — a middle-aged man, successful. Been there, done that.Then he reveals his inner heart and soul — perhaps his journal or his spiritual autobiography — and that’s the book of Ecclesiastes. The end result is that he looks back and says, “I have lived a life under the sun.” It was a life of emptiness, a life void of meaning. Solomon — who was the wealthiest person who ever lived and evidently one of the most brilliant individuals who has ever lived — gets to the end of his life, after he’s accomplished all that he’d accomplished, and he says it’s all empty, it’s all futility, it’s all vanity. And he says, “Now what, now what? What’s it all about, what did it mean?” He missed the meaning of life.Preaching: Why do people feel that way today?Young: I think they’re trying the same thing Solomon did. Many people are pursuing pleasure; they’re hedonists. A lot of people are pursuing materialism; they’re pursuing wealth. Someone just told me that one who is wealthy has one and only one advantage over those of us who are not wealthy. I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “They know wealth will not bring happiness.” I think people are trying the same things. There’s nothing new under the sun and Solomon lived an under-the-sun lifestyle. In doing so, he cut off the tie with God that he had early in his life.No one else in history that I know of was told by God, “Name it and you can have it” — was given a blank check. Solomon asked for wisdom and God was so pleased that He gave him wisdom and honor and wealth. That’s the way God does, you know. When God’s pleased He gives us more than we ask for. But somewhere along the way with building the temple, Solomon — who I believe went through all the rituals of worship and all the paths of being a religious man, a God-fearing man — somewhere along the way he sold out to this world’s structure and this world’s system. We’ve seen that sell-out happen in America in our own lifetime…Preaching: How do you prepare for that moment in the pulpit after you’ve written the manuscript?
Young: I used to practice some, though I rarely do that anymore; sometimes I will go over something. I get my outline and then I work on the transitional phrases. I spend a long time on the introduction and I spend a good while on the conclusion, then I begin to fill in the gaps. I’m now on Compuserve (a computer service), which is a wonderful help. I can find so many periodicals, modern speeches or press conferences, TV or radio programs which commented on any one particular area I’m dealing with. I’m wired into various libraries from which I can get bibliographical information or a thesis that was written. This has been a recent thing for me, and it’s opened up just a whole new world of information. The key to the process is discernment, plus taking all that information and saying it in a simple way.For example, I think preaching needs to be void of much of the old religious terminology in order to meet those busters and those boomers. Instead of talking about salvation, I might use the word salvaged. When you salvage something, you restore it for the purpose for which it was made — that’s what salvaging is. That’s also what salvation is. The boomer understands that. We have geared the pulpit in our church to those who are not yet there. We feed and minister to our flock through Bible study and through other kinds of worship experiences, but primarily we have pitched the ministry of our church to the secular mind.Therefore, Ecclesiastes is right over the plate. We’ve had more adults come to Christ — more people who’ve come from being agnostics and atheists — just because of the book of Ecclesiastes. It asks the question that the rest of the Bible answers. If you’re going to teach the Bible, begin with Ecclesiastes.I worked all last summer just on titles before I began in September. Then I worked on my outlines. I had my bibliography. I got people who had really struggled with Ecclesiastes ahead of me, which has always been helpful. Then I sit down with the Scriptures. First of all, I try to do my own work: “What does this scripture say to me? Are there any pregnant words there?” Find those pregnant words and do a little word-study. Then I try to let the Scripture outline itself if that’s possible. God works in creative ways and different ways in preaching.My process of preparation: I get my sermon, my title, a sense of God’s direction, then I write out manuscripts of that sermon and I preach without notes. I can just have an open Bible because I’ve crafted that through writing. I dictate it before I preach. My sermon’s typed before I preach, it’s typed after I preach, so I’ve got double manuscripts for anything that I’ve done. It helps us to edit for television as well. I’ll spend twenty hours a week on every sermon.
This from the American Humanist website: This week we’re pleased to publish a new poem “Ecclesiastes” by Frank S. Robinson. Frank S. Robinson is a retired New York State administrative law judge, a rare coin dealer, and author of five books, most recently The Case for Rational Optimism. He is married to the poet Therese […]
Tampa Bay Rays apologize for Avril Lavigne TMZ reported: According to local reports, Avril’s mic didn’t work at the start of her show … and she responded to the cavalcade of boos by yelling obscenities at crowd. Rays rep Rick Vaughn tells TMZ, “The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
Chris Martin revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was rasied an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. His belief in […]
Picture of Adrian Rogers above from 1970′s while pastor of Bellevue Baptist of Memphis, and president of Southern Baptist Convention. (Little known fact, Rogers was the starting quarterback his senior year of the Palm Beach High School football team that won the state title and a hero to a 7th grader at the same school named […]
Chris Martin revealed in his interview with Howard Stern that he was rasied an evangelical Christian but he has left the church. I believe that many words that he puts in his songs today are generated from the deep seated Christian beliefs from his childhood that find their way out in his songs. His belief in […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have gone back and forth and back and forth with many liberals on the Arkansas Times Blog on many issues such as abortion, human rights, welfare, poverty, gun control and issues dealing with popular culture. Here is another exchange I had with them a while back. My username at the Ark Times Blog is Saline […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
The Bible and Archaeology (3/5) For many more archaeological evidences in support of the Bible, see Archaeology and the Bible . (There are some great posts on this too at the bottom of this post.) Robert Dick Wilson at the Grove City Bible Conference in 1909. IS THE HIGHER CRITICISM SCHOLARLY?Clearly attested facts showing that thedestructive […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of […]
Above is a clip of 12 questions for Woody Allen. Below is a list of some of his movies. WOODY’S FINEST: Philip French’s favourite five Annie Hall (1977) In his first fully achieved masterwork, a semi-autobiographical comedy in which his ex-lover Diane Keaton and best friend Tony Roberts play versions of themselves, Allen created a […]
September 3, 2011 · 5:16 PM ↓ Jump to Comments Woody Allen on the Emptiness of Life In the final scene of Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character, Isaac, is lying on the sofa with a microphone and a tape-recorder, dictating to himself an idea for a short story. It will be about “people in Manhattan,” he says, […]
As far as I know they have never done an interview together. Therefore, I have included separate interviews that they have done below and I have some links to past posts I have done on them too. Shane Warne – Chris Martin Interview (Part 1) Uploaded by HandyAndy136 on Nov 24, 2010 Originally broadcast on […]
The Bible and Archaeology (1/5) The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. _________________________- I want to make two points today. 1. There is no […]
John Lofton noted: “DR. FRIEDMAN an evolutionist with ‘values’ of unknown origin but he said they were not ‘accidental.’ “ If anyone takes time to read my blog for any length of time they can not question my respect for the life long work of Milton Friedman. He has advanced the cause of freedom […]
Keith was born in New York near Brooklyn. His mom had been a singer with the Big Bands, his dad a schoolteacher. Before he was two his mom said Keith had perfect pitch as he sang his baby songs. A year later his family moved to CA and settled into the newly developed orchards of the San Fernando Valley, just a short drive to Hollywood, which would play a significant role in Keith’s future.
The Daily Hatch 