#not in a like....hillsong.. kinda way

[rotgospels]

Omg I didn't realise you were in ministry! I use to be a youth leader at Hillsong (hills campus) and like half my team was queer but like none of use would say it out loud it was kinda crazy (esp cuz i was also in the worship team). Like I really miss it especially because my girls felt safe enough to come out to me the same way I did to my youth leader when I was their age but augh. I moved to Canberra in 2020 and I still haven't found a church yet, I'm debating Anglican but I'm leaning towards United but! We'll see, I really miss being in ministry tbh I hope I find one soon 😭

oh shit!! i feel like theres always a 95% chance at least one person on any church worship team is bi kfsjhdk myself and quite a few other girls at my last church were queer but never said it out loud either. there definitely seems to be a culture of telling a pastor/leader but no one else. its also so good to hear that the youth group there had a safe person to turn to - i can't even imagine working in such a large capacity!

praying for your search and whatever God leads you into next! uniting churches are always fun spaces xx

[moonmoonthecrabking]

(livebloggy) thoughts about the studio versions of eurovision 2023 songs on spotify (don't judge me). also if i say something has "energy" or "vibes" it is almost always neutral/positive.

aijā: the instrumental fooled me into thinking this would be far more upbeat and Quirky. then the melody came in and it's slower than my personal liking. uh, sir are you okay? i do like the strong pulse with subdivisions, i hope that's right terms. i like the ending "please don't wake up" (ig that's the bridge) and the stripped down ending (i do mean ending this time) in latvian.

dance (our own party): i liked it until the verse lyrics came on. AND I LOVE THE INSTRUMENTALS THOSE ARE REALLY BOPPING. the chorus is neat!!!! the verse seems like dichotomy. but not in the best way. idk. i'm really enjoying like the whole song aside from verse 1. apart from that section it's great! also i acknowledge that when i write in this post format my bitchiness and criticism grows three sizes so yk

who the hell is edgar?: is it cringy? MAYBE but it's fun OH THE CHANT DAMN. like the music, even though it's upbeat and electro, suits the vibe of possession and horror. even without the chant (though that was sick). which the last song was missing in the first verse. look. early favourite tbh. thanks austria! (the 'who the hell is edgar?' at the end took me out tho ngl)

breaking my heart: it's not bad. it's cute! it reminds me of something i would do warmups to in dance class!! (not a bad thing at all). the texture drop and tight harmonies is done really well. if you described this to me i'd probably expect to hate it but i'm vibing!

so far when i looked up which country each entry was from i wasn't super surprised. idk what that says but i'm saying it.

tattoo: i know this is loreen. thing is i didn't get the hype for euphoria so we'll see. it reminds me of something? oh it's kinda got greatest showman vibes in the chorus. not really in the verse but. also the pre-chorus does remind me a little of church music (like hillsong music). instrumental reminds me of the slow part of love is blind (lithuania 2012). i think people will probably really like this, i think it's mid.

because of you: i have listened to this one before, admittedly. just dance energy. again reminds me of warmups when i did dance as an extracurricular. the lyrics aren't for me, but if they're inspired by a real person, then that's cute for them!!! i just hope they don't make the staging really basic tbh

heart of steel: i like how it's going hard on the minor key. some villain energy. which i respect and endorse wholeheartedly. like it's chill, but evil, and i think that's what we all need to embody a little bit. also reminds me of 'don't get sad, get even' in vigilante shit. idk where i was expecting to come from, but this is very cool, ukraine!!

carpe diem: i like how it starts a lot, less how it builds. OOOO GUITAR OOOOO. i am a child, but that's besides the point.

d.g.t (on and off): i can't really describe it?? it's very rocking for such a slow song, i love the snapping and the rhythm. the high parts, less so, but it really depends on how it's performed. 6/8 my beloved. my beloved. mmmmmmm dynamic interest mmmmmmm. i am not one to wish different from the high notes but uh, not my fave part of the song rn (then again i generally prefer songs sung lower)

ai coração: OOOO THE PIANO RUN LIKE IN SHREK 2. it's so danceable but non in a generic edm way oh i am in love i love her voice ohohohohoh. thank you portugal this shall be in my top.

power: GIRL WHERE WAS THE INTRO. uh very hillsong. idk what to tell you it just gives strong christian music vibes at the start. the electro undertones minimises it but still. STILL. not even just the music the metaphors too.

stay: it's too slow for my liking. it's not bad, it's just. that sort of song. parts of this are familiar, from other eurovision songs. the chorus gives very 'we are the world! world peace!' energy. not my favourite, but if you like it, i'm happy for you!!

eaea: i have listened to this before!!! i think it's neat!!! the vibes are immaculate!!! thank you spain!!! (don't love it as much as slomo but that was the top of my spotify wrapped so yk)

samo mi se spava: it's giving the 2005 dcom minutemen. no i will not elaborate.

blood and glitter: is this... rap rock?? contrast?? it's giving some form of campiness ig?? I LOVE IT. THE VARIETY. GERMANY?? damn nice work germany!!

we are one: it's a little to 'simple happiness' for my taste? but at least it's happy and uplifting!!! i don't love it but i respect it!! it does however remind me of the australian Classic 'for we are one but we are many, and from all the lands on earth we coMe'. i sang that song for like 4 years before knowing the lyrics. like damn i was really rather no thoughts head empty when i was 5. yeah ireland i'm not shocked.

cha cha cha: giving uno energy?? very high energy!! actually add this to a get psyched mix bc this slapsssssss. wooooooooo

mama šč: hey i don't get it i think it's doing A Lot!! but i'm really keen to the staging, and it's bopping

tell me more: it's very sweet and cute. like if it's this sort of slow song it can manipulate me. even if there's non-mischa bachinski rap (seeeee, rtc mutuals, i can slip the references in there!!!)

bridges: reminds me of a matter of time from 2018?? it feels very soft and a little angsty but not in the way i like?? the lyrics, while so valid, aren't what i wanna listen to to live my best life yk?

break a broken heart: ooooo i love the rhythm of this one!! dare i say believer vibes? also the disney channel movie zombies? i know this sounds bad but i'm genuinely thoroughly enjoying it!!! vibes king

what they say: it's sad deep in a way that doesn't particularly mesh with me, unfortunately. although 'i got too much on my plate' eyo same man

evidemment: feels very epic and very french. OH A DANCE BEAT OH. we're vibing now perry the platypus!

solo: it's very upbeat beach vibes. look i just really like it. it's so slay girlboss, you know???

i wrote a song: hmmmmm at least someone's taking alexander rybak's advice!!! not my personal cup of tea musically (not much melodic interest and too staccato for me) or lyrically (since i'm translating catullus, i'm not in the mood for scorned lovers who decide to write verses about how they're getting their revenge. but i don't dislike this artist!! i do hate catullus)

soarele si luna: PASHA PARFENI!!!!! i'm really enjoying this one!!!! (not as much as his 2012 entry, but i had 11 years to fall in love with that one, it'll take time, and they're very different)

due vite: not my thing, and that's okay!!

watergun: it's not my kind of ballad, i hope this person is okay!!

duje: i love the strong pulse with the native language and the violin runs and how it says hyped!!!

my sister's crown: women supporting women. i'm not the biggest fan of the english lyrics or the melody in the verse BUT THE CHORUS SLAPS like majorly so. i don't love the soft ethereal it gets in the english chorus but when it changes languages i do. i think this is a hint that i don't love music in english as much

COMPARE THE MEERKAT AD WOOOOOOOOOO I FUCKING LOVE COMPARE THE MEERKAT (it's a real website you can go to btw)

promise: my country :) i've listened to this one already. i find it rather repetitive in the verses (particularly the first one), the music is fine!! certainly not my least favourite of our entries!!! i really like the music in "cross my heart til the sun turns red in the sunrise" (possibly aided by the brevity of it) and also when they absolutely fucking rock out in the instrumental

burning daylight: i personally don't love it, it reminds me of like 2013 indie stuff. also, to be nitpicky, there's one specific lyric that is the sorta thing that i know pisses me off so. yeah. didn't Help.

queen of kings: yeah this one was an early favourite of mine i've already listened to it. it just musically gives me dark fantasy vibes and energises me, you know?? very disappointed the studio version doesn't include the italian and latin chanting, but it's still like a great song to run to (i don't run). i was a little concerned about if she'd be able to pull of the vocals live (based only on the studio version) but when i watched her melodi grand prix version she fucking slayed

unicorn: i love the epic intro, it was kinda too much of a drop for me when the singer came in. pre-chorus feels a bit basic (***for my tastes) or is it the chorus idk but it reminds me of the circus climax of madagascar 3. the phenonamal part is a bop, and i really do like the ending part!!! the first half just wasn't my taste as much (aside from that beginning instrumentation)

if it's not on spotify, i wasn't bothered to listen to it (but ofc i will eventually!!). honestly this feels like a pretty good year (to meeeee) but not the highest quality ballads/slow songs (i know there's a difference, but for the sake of eurovision, no there's not)

[bookofjudith]

Who are The Oh Hellos???

anon.... u just opened the floodgates... 

they were my top artist of 2020 and i spent something like 10k hours listening to them which uh. probably says bad things about my mental health. let’s not dwell on that MOVING ON!! 

The Oh Hellos started as a sibling duo but is now a full ensemble folk band!! Their music is earnestly beautiful and profound, and their lyrics are chockful of biblical and literary and greco-roman mythological allusions, which, if you know me, makes me go bonkers fucking YONKERS. They occasionally get classified as a Christian band, but, uh, I’d call their stuff Christian music in the same way I’d call Sufjan Stevens or Hozier Christian Artists, as in, they ARE Christian/ write about Christian Things, and their faith influences their worldview, not in like a, christian radio station kind of way. if that makes sense. They literally write whatever the fuck they want and it somehow works?? they wrote an entire album based off of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters (Dear Wormwood) and it GOES SO GODDAMN HARD!!! 

You’ve probably heard at least one of their popular songs, like Soldier, Poet, King, or Hello, My Old Heart but I don’t think those are even CLOSE to their best work. Here are some of my absolute all-time favorites from the oh hellos!

Like The Dawn  (you were the brightest shade of sunlight I’d ever seen/ your skin was gilded with the golds of the richest kings/ and like the dawn, you woke the world inside of me)

Passerine  (my palms and fingers still reek of gasoline/ from throwing fuel to the fire of that Greco-Roman dream)

Grow (let be what is, let be what isn’t/ it’s a natural world in which we’re living/ if you let it alone, it will surely grow/ just leave it alone, child, and let it go)

Hieroglyphs (if the heavens can be both sacred and dust, oh, maybe, so can the rest of us

The Lament of Eustace Scrubbs (I know that I have gone astray/ ‘cause when I saw my reflection/ it was a stranger beneath my face)

Boreas (I’m one spoon away/ from setting the ends of my hair on fire/ if I’m kindling for a little while/ at least I’ll feel of us)

ANYWAYS i’m sorry for the manifesto but if you wanna check them out, here’s my Oh Hellos playlist!

[raisans-art]

Okay so to lighten things up from ppl accidentally being a bit pushy on design ideas here's something fun

What's your favourite Little Thing about each hermitcat design that you're particularly proud of?

OOO YEAAYAYAYA I LOVE TALKING ABOUT MY DESIGNS!!

Ok going in order of the allegiance page:

Voidstar(X): I added the sparse grey freckles so that it looked like the little particles and static that you see in the void

Hillsong(Joe): the longer scruff fur and darker colour is supposed to resemble his longer hair falling over his shoulders

Bearcreek(Cub): He's got a stubby tail and small ears to resemble more of a bear and give his parents reason to name him Bearkit

Aspenwool(Zed): even though he's my favourite hermit, I didn't make any clever design choices with him aside from having 6 inches of fluff on him

Canopystorm(Doc): His long fur is supposed to resemble a goat's! Also the markings on his chin are supposed to resemble his beard

Shadedsoil(Hypno): He has a couple of long tufts of fur on the back of his neck that's supposed to look like the ends of a bandana

Snowmask(Etho): the markings along his forehead are supposed to indicate his headband

Wolfshadow(Ren): The mask of darker fur on his eyes are supposed to resemble his glasses. Also, his fur is actually pulled up into a ponytail at the back

Shrubfur(Bdubs): He's modeled after a munchkin cat and the fur along his back is supposed to look like a big mohawk

Spiritblossom(Cleo): Her fur is long and curly enough to hide a lot of her scars

Doespot(Gem): I just love her little fawn spots on her back :)))

Bravesky(Wels): His tail is supposed to be the plume of his helmet

Marshtail(Jevin): round :)

Cattlehunt(Beef): Make him look like a brown cow :) Also his white chest is supposed to be like the apron

Mossfrost(Iskall): I had nothing to work off of other than iskall meaning ice cold so he's based off of Hawkfrost instead

Waspbite(False): pushing the bee theme because of her bee on her beans shop instead of going for the eagle imagery! I thought it was a lot more cleaver and made her more intimidating with her name. I'm really proud of her name you don't understand--

Redflash(Mumbo): the red spot on his chest looking like his tie

Barkscar(Scar): He's got a spot of orange, just like Jellie has a spot of orange on her! (but she's self conscious about it)

Littlewing(Grian): his tail is supposed to resemble a wing!

Petalrush(Stress): I drew her fur so that it would look like flower petals

Sunstrike(impulse): His tail looks like an i also his beard in the darker patch of fur on his face

Quickblaze(Tango): His snaggle tooth to resemble the way I draw him normally, and his short tail to also resemble how I interpret his hair

Moonleap(Pearl): I wanted her cheek fur to look kinda like the long bits of hair on the front of her skin

Pinefall(Keralis): The markings around his eyes are supposed to make them look bigger than they actually are (which is already big)

Sleekscale(xB): I mildly modeled his fur after a portuguese waterdog. Supposed to look fuffly up front with a pompom tail but a sleek body for swimming

Bouldertooth: big eyebrows to almost cover his eyes up

I would talk about the cats outside the clans as well but this is already long as hell

[jamie-keynes]

EDMUND PEVENSIE AS A CHRISTIAN GUY

Being a kid, Edmund wouldn't be interested in religion, not even in christianity, but his parents took him and his siblings to church every sunday.

It was after his las trip to Narnia that he discovered to the Aslan of our world and he understood the meaning of both sacrifices (the same would happen to his siblings).

After surrender his life, he would take the christian life seriously (not in a legalistic way).

He would be the type of christian that write notes on the border of his Bible and has a colour code to underline it (probably his siblings would do it too).

His favorite christian band would be Hillsong Y&F.

He would help others when they were going through a hard time and would be a good listener and advicer.

Edmund would be known as the quiet and serious one of the Pevensies.

His aura would produce different reactions:grown ups would think that he is mature for someone of his age, people of his age (mostly boys) think that he is boring and intimidating, in the other hand, he would be the crush of almost every girl.

I can see him falling for the pastor's daughter or the pretty girl in the choir.

In a relationship, Edmund would treat her like a princess (he knows that she is the daughter of the King of kings and Lord of the lords).

He would feel kinda related to 1 Timothy 1:15: "This is a faitful saying, and worthy of all acceptacion, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;of whom I am chief".

[dailyaudiobible]

12/25/2020 DAB Transcript

Zechariah 8:1-23, Revelation 16:1-21, Psalms 144:1-15, Proverbs 30:29-31

Today is the 25th day of December Merry Christmas everybody welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you. We have worked an entire year to get to this place and now we commemorate with awe and wonder the reality that the Savior has arrived, that God would not tolerate the separation between he and us any longer and He came in person to rescue us. And may we respond with open hearted joy.

Song:

Joy to the world – Hillsong

Joy to the world The Lord is come Let Earth receive her King Let every heart prepare Him room And heaven and nature sing And heaven and nature sing Let heaven, let heaven and nature sing Let heaven, let heaven and nature sing

Joy to the Earth the Savior reigns Let men their songs employ While fields and floods Rocks, hills and the plains Repeat the sounding joy (repeat the sounding joy) Repeat the sounding joy Repeat, repeat the sounding joy Repeat, repeat the sounding joy Repeat, oh darling, Lord

Repeat, repeat the sound, yeah

Repeat, repeat the sound, yeah

Let the heavens sing

He rules the world (he rules the world) With truth and grace And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness And the wonders of His love And the wonders of His love And the wonders, the wonders of His love And the wonders, the wonders of His love

Joy, joy, joy to the world (his love) Joy, joy, joy, singing Joy, joy, joy to the world (sing it, sing it, sing it, sing it) Joy, joy, joy, singing

Joy, joy, joy to the world Joy, joy, joy, singing Joy, joy, joy to the world Joy, joy, joy, singing

Singing (singing) Singing (singing) Singing joy to the world now Singing (singing) Singing (singing) Joy to the world now (joy to the world now) Joy to the world now Joy to the world now Joy to the world now, now, now, now, now, now, now Ooh yeah (oh yeah)

To the world To the world You reign, You reign, yeah

Joy, joy, joy to the world Joy, joy, joy, singing

 Even though it's Christmas day, even though there's a lot going on on Christmas day we have a rhythm here around the Global Campfire and so we should spend a portion of our Christmas day together hearing from God's word, which is what we’ll do now. We’re reading from the New English Translation this week. Zechariah chapter 8.

Commentary:

Okay. So, today is Christmas day and I don't know what time of day it is that you might be hearing this. Maybe it's early morning Christmas morning before everyone's awake or maybe everybody gets up at dawn and so there's no time for that and it's been festivities and now you've just kind of found a second to catch her breath. Maybe it's Christmas night and this is how you’re kind of sealing Christmas, ending Christmas before falling asleep. And it's been a good…well…it’s been more than a month now that all of the lights and trees and all of the festivities are all over the place all throughout our neighborhoods all throughout our communities. There is no celebration like Christmas. The world over in all of our cultures and customs throughout the earth. Billions and billions of people are observing Christmas for all kinds of different reasons and not all of them are religious, but regardless, everyone that is commemorating and observing Christmas in some sort of way is acknowledging the arrival of God in the flesh. And there is no celebration on earth like it. As Christians we…we might argue that Easter, resurrection day, the day where it is accomplished is more or equally as important. I don't know. I guess it doesn't really matter. But Christmas is a day of joy and celebration the world over, and the whole build up to its brings our hearts closer together in unity. We sense goodwill toward people around us in ways that we really don't the rest of the year. And, so, the world is celebrating today, and we have either got in our cars and traveled across town or across the country to be with loved ones or we’ve gotten on planes. And it was a little more tricky this year than ever before, or maybe people have come into our town and they are with us, our friends, our family. We are surrounded by goodness and yet I know that some of you that I'm speaking to that's not the story. I’ve learned that over the years. I know that some of you may be together with your spouse, but that's…that’s how you observe Christmas. That's all there is right now. Or maybe nobody. Some of you are literally…have nobody today. You’re celebrating Christmas physically anyway, alone. I…I kind of grew up with a certain kind of Christmas. My mom she was determined to create a season around Christmas that she never really got to experience. And, so, it was really, really important for her to kind of build up the Christmas spirit. And, so, I just kinda grew up thinking that's how it was for everyone. It wasn't until I became older that I began to realize, no, not everybody even has a family. It wasn't until I got into ministry, especially ministry here at the Daily Audio Bible that I began to realize when we get to December 25th every year it is tremendous and joyous celebration. The church, the capital “C” church around the world, we’re like…we are in full bloom celebrating the arrival of the Savior and it sets an example and sends it out into the world but not everybody is involved. Some have no one and nowhere and that's always been a bit sad to me. So, every time we get here to the 25th  of December here at the Daily Audio Bible certainly we want to jump up and down and celebrate the arrival of the Savior, we want to jump up and down and celebrate, but not everybody gets this traditional type of celebration. And I’ve become more and more aware of that. And, so, each Christmas day that we come to on the Daily Audio Bible I want to acknowledge that. I acknowledge that this time that we’re having around the Global Campfire right now centered around God's word, knowing that, at least for these moments we’re not alone. Somebody else somewhere is connected to what we’re doing right now. I’ve found that for some of you this is your family Christmas, this is…this is the gathering, and this is one of those moments where I wish that the…I mean I’m so grateful for the Internet because it creates the community that we share but I wish that we could reach through it and actually be together. I guess it was maybe like six or seven years ago when reading through December 25th’s reading of the Daily Audio Bible, and of course we’re reading through the book of Revelation. I’m just reading out God pouring out bowls of wrath upon the earth and all the horrible things that are happening on the earth and earth's people are suffering tremendously because of this outpouring of wrath and it's like Christmas day. And I'm realizing that some of us are having joyful celebrations and some of us are completely by ourselves, and I just…I can remember like getting done with that reading and just going, “this doesn't feel like Christmas.” And I am an introvert and I'm a creative person. And, so, I’ve got a bit of a melancholy personality and…at times…and I can brood and especially if things are disrupted, I can brood. And, so, just kind of brooding realizing that every Christmas always for some reason feels like somethings missing…I don't know…missing. Even if its perfect somethings missing because I’ve felt like that at Christmas at some point or another long as I can remember. Like that…even today. We have festive joyous celebration with our family and we’re having a wonderful time together but there'll be a point in the day where I'll find myself somewhere alone whether I’m going for a walk or just finding a quiet place for just a little while…to let that sink in. And I used to call it like Christmas blues or something like that because…and I know I’m not the only one…and I’m not saying things that nobody else understands. I know that I'm talking to some of you directly, like I'm speaking your language right now. You're feeling it and you don't know how…I mean it's supposed to be joyous and it doesn't exactly feel that way. It feels like something's still broken. It was just a handful of years ago, the year my mother died. My mother, she…she lived through Christmas of 2016, but she passed away in the first couple weeks of January 2017. And it was that year…my mom in the hospital…just really having lost…lost any kind of tethering to reality. I’m running back and forth to hospitals seven days a week, keeping the Daily Audio Bible going seven days a week, run in from the hospital, come into the studio reading Christmas days reading feeling the…the fatigue of it all, feeling the blues of it all, and then reading Revelation and the bowls of God's wrath poured out on the earth and just feeling like this…this doesn't feel like Christmas. And then I read Revelation again and tried to consider it and the concept of Christmas and then I realized what's happening in Revelation for our Christmas day reading isn’t God just so angry at people that He's had enough and wants to destroy them at all. It’s God putting an end to evil. It’s God putting an end to everything that has destroyed us all along. It’s difficult to read of but it's God putting things right so that all things can become new again. And I realized kind of in that year in that particular reading this is what has to happen. This is why we are told so many times that we must endure until the end. Basically, what we’re reading in Revelation today is that baby Jesus all grown up eradicating the power of sin and death and the grave forever and ever. Amen. So, at least for me when I feel those blues kind of come, this kind of emptiness that something's not right I realize that all I’m feeling is the longing of my soul. We are in the in between. We can jump up and down and celebrate wildly for the arrival of the Savior, and we should, and we are, but we are in between. We are waiting for the second arrival of the Savior, when all things will be made new and all things will be put right. And in the meantime, everything isn't right, and we are here to endure and to share the good news and to be a part of the rescue for as long as we can, as long as we live. We are the living story of Christmas all year long through our very lives. It's not how many lights we can put on our house. It's how much of a light can shine out of our heart that’s gonna matter. And, so, no matter what's going on, if you’ve got all kinds of festivities and it's just crazy out there, if you find a moment to just sit with that to just understand this is the in between, that all things are being made new. We are being made new. The Scriptures have told us this over and over and over throughout this year. We are in process. It's okay where we are right now. This isn’t where we’re gonna be 12 months from now. Think about Christmas day last year. We had no idea what was on the horizon for 2020. We were going into this year with the idea of seeing clearly and vision and just moving forward and finally getting our legs under us. And this was gonna be a fantastic year and we didn't realize we were going to face some significant challenges that the world has never really seen before We were gonna find how divided we are. We were gonna get vision alright. The truth was gonna come to us. We were gonna see things as they really were and stop faking, stop pretending they were different than they are. And we got a good dose of reality. Last Christmas 12 months ago today we had no idea. So, in fairness, we have no idea what's in front of us, which is not a message of ominous things to come. I don't think that. I never think that. The truth is 12 months ago we did not know what we now know. We had not experienced what we have experienced together as humanity in the world in 2020. We've learned a lot, a lot about ourselves, a lot about each other, a lot about our cultures and societies, a lot. We aren't the same people we were on Christmas day last year and we’re not gonna be the same people 12 months from today on Christmas day next year. We are in process. It's okay. Because what we read in things like the book of Revelation is, even though there is a profound disruption to the status quo, a complete upheaval of things. The things that are being disrupted have to fall. They have to go away to be replaced by something new. And where this whole story is going is that all things will be made new again. And, so, let's take some time today on this beautiful celebratory day to certainly enjoy our presents and certainly enjoy giving the presents and O the twinkle in the children's eyes and the gratefulness and the thankfulness and the beautiful sense of family, yes to all of that. Let's dive into it completely, but let's also be aware of the deeper currents of what Christmas represents. This is all going somewhere and that somewhere is good. And, so, I love you guys. This is my 15th Christmas day doing this, being here behind this mic at Daily Audio Bible and I am profoundly grateful for the journey that we’ve been on and are on. And, so, from the bottom of my heart Jill and I wish you all a very, very joyous Merry Christmas.

Song:

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem O come and behold Him, born the King of Angels

O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord

O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful to Bethlehem

O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful to Bethlehem

O sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation O come, o come ye to Bethlehem O Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels

O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord

O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful to Bethlehem

O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful O come, all ye faithful to Bethlehem

O come all ye O come all ye faithful O come all ye O come all ye faithful

O come all ye O come all ye faithful O come all ye O come all ye faithful

O come all ye O come all ye faithful O come all ye O come all ye faithful

O come all ye O come all ye faithful O come all ye O come all ye faithful

O come all ye faithful O come all ye faithful O come all ye faithful to Bethlehem

O come all ye faithful O come all ye faithful O come all ye faithful to Bethlehem

O come all ye faithful O come all ye faithful Born the King of Angels

O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him Christ the Lord

O come all ye faithful O come all ye faithful O come all ye faithful to Bethlehem

[onestowatch]

Jimi Somewhere Dives Into an Angelic, Crisis of Faith on Latest Single "Jesus" [Q&A]

Jimi Somewhere is the brainchild of Benjamin Schandy, a 22-year-old artist hailing from Hokksund, a charming town in Norway. Jimi Somewhere's music is influenced by the imaginative work of renowned filmmaker Spike Jonze and the outstanding artistry of Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Abstract, and Frank Ocean. Jimi ties his contemplative lyrics with frenzy electro-pop, ornate hip-hop beats, trippy pop, and multi-layered vocals to produce his very own signature resonance.

Today, Jimi Somewhere shares his new single "Jesus” off his forthcoming debut LP, Nothing Gold Can Stay. We caught up with Somewhere for a quick Q&A about the track's grandiose and "larger than life" feel and the inspiration he pulled from the Christian summer camps he attended growing up.

Ones to Watch: This song has a very spiritual tone and is named after a spiritual figure. It sounds like throughout the song, the main character is going on a spiritual journey or crisis of faith. What is this song about to you, and how did this song come to be?

Jimi Somewhere: A crisis of faith is a good way to put it. That's what it's about to me: faith, doubt, and values. I grew up and out of the church myself, and after I stopped going, I kind of had to reflect on which one of these values to bring along with me in life. There was a lot I was taught in church that I didn't agree with, but then again, a lot of it is just about empathy and humanity. But I needed to have space to figure that out for myself without having any voices in my ears. That's what inspired me to write the song. I was just so frustrated with everything and needed to breathe. Music is also very therapeutic for me. I use it to get it all off my chest.

What was the creative process like for the single? What made you want to go for this very omnipresent, iridescent sound for the track? Were you inspired by anything in particular?

We kind of wanted it to sound like these Christian songs that we would hear at various summer camps growing up. They always had this "larger than life" feeling. You're in the crowd singing, and you feel like you are a part of this big thing. That's what we're chasing. A Hillsong type beat. Only felt right considering the themes on the song. Other inspirations for the song is Coldplay's early stuff, which has been very important to me. The emotional but pretty sadness they often present.

Do you consider yourself a spiritual person?

I'm not sure. I don't think so. I can, for sure, say I feel very connected though. Like I'll be in nature, and I'll take it all in. But on a day to day basis, I wouldn't say I'm very spiritual. It's something I'd like to dive more into as I'm getting older because I believe the universe is bigger than just us and what you see.

I found myself deeply connecting with a lot of the lyrics, especially the line "I've never met Jesus, but you're the closest to Heaven I've ever come." Do you have a favorite lyric from this track or one that speaks to you? What is your approach when it comes to songwriting?

"For everything I never told my mother, always comes back to get me" is a line I really like. Because it's so true to me. Every time I go against my mother's advice, it ends up negatively affecting my life. So listen to your mothers! They do know best.

Songwriting to me is just kind of throwing up. Just everything I have pent up inside. I don't want to overthink it because if it becomes too conscious, it's usually not that good. The best stuff just falls out.

Kacy Hill's voice is so stunning and perfectly compliments the sonic chaos when she comes in halfway through the song. What was working with her like, and how did she get involved with this single?

Working with her was so sick. She's literally the sweetest person. I've been a massive fan of her for many years and suddenly found out I had a mutual friend. So after bugging him to ask her to come to the studio, she did! I was so embarrassed the first time she came to record but because suddenly our audio interface didn't work. We got all sporadic and were trying to fix it but couldn't. I was thinking like she would hate us for wasting her time and that we blew our shot. But she was so nice about it and came back the next week.

She really just went into the studio and did that. Me and Milo were in the other room, shaking and jumping around. It sounded crystal clear and angelic from the jump. I think her verse brings this comfort and hope that the song was missing. Because it's not all bad, you know. There's light at the end of every tunnel. It was important to me to have that emphasized in the song, and she did that perfectly.

I know "Jesus" is a single coming off of your upcoming Nothing Gold Can Stay. How does it fit into the album overall?

It's one of the first songs on the album, and I thought it would be cool to open an album with such an honest track. Keep the book open from the beginning. The album is also me reflecting on all these things ending in my life. During the ages of 16 - 20, there's a lot of moving out, losing friends, growing up, graduating high school, etc. Faith & wanting a sense of belonging has been a big part of my life during those years so it was important to me to talk about it on the album.

What can people expect to hear from the new LP? I'm sure there's only so much you can share about the album and want to keep a lot of it as a surprise for your fans. Can they expect the same emotional, nostalgic, summery themes from your previous work, or do you feel like you're going in a different direction? Or is Nothing Gold Can Stay going to be a healthy mix of something old and new?

There's for sure a lot the same themes as in the previous work. This is my debut album, so we wanted to make it as "Jimi Somewhere" as possible. Everything else has been building up to this, so we weren't afraid of being a little cliche with it. I just think that's fun. There's definitely some new directions on it as well though. Both sonically and thematic. We never want two projects or songs to sound the same.

Has the pandemic effected you or inspired you as an artist? If so, how?

It just gave us time to create a lot. I live with my producer, so when lockdown happened, we kinda were like, "Ok, let's just be here and work!" We've made so many songs this year. I also got to add that I live in Norway, and we handled it all pretty well in the beginning, so life has been a lot more normal here than what it looks like in the States.

Once the world comes to a state of a new normal, what's the first thing you want to do?

Go back to America! I had so many plans before the pandemic, so I'm trying to make them all happen once I can. But it's just not safe, yet so I'll stay on this side of the ocean until then.

When shows and concerts are back, who do you want to see, and who do you want to tour or play with?

I was supposed to see Taylor Swift live this summer, but it, of course, got canceled. Hopefully, I'll get another chance next year. Just so cool to see such a big production. There's always that dream of doing stadium shows in the future, so I would be in the crowd taking notes. I'm also a huge Taylor Swift fan, so it's the best of both worlds.

Dream tour would be with Lorde because she's been such a big influence on me, and I love her live show. Would not mind hearing 'Writer in the dark' live 30 nights in a row. I also feel like I could learn so much from her. She's only a couple years older than me but seems so wise. So yeah, Lorde, I'm here if you need me just call!

Who have you been listening to throughout the pandemic? Are there any Ones To Watch?

I've been going through so many phases. I had this big Jill Scott phase, where I just listened to "The Light" on repeat all day. Watched this movie "Weathering with you" and got obsessed with the soundtrack. When it comes to Ones to Watch, I wanna recommend this Norwegian band Veps. They're completely new, but my friend sent me their music during quarantine, and it's so good. My favorite song, "Do I Hear a Maybe," is this really sweet, garage rock track with a big hook that I've been screaming around the apartment ever since I heard it. Very fire.

Stream “Jesus” below.

[rahab-of-the-sea]

Bit of a vent so ill be cutting it here. Kinda negative but not like negative negative if that makes sense.

Right so work has been brutal on me. Like I mean its very toxic and not good for me or my mental health. I’m just glad I’ve got a kick ass friend at work that helps keep me going.

In short I’ve just been getting verbally abused and intimidated left right and center and what makes it worse is my work is to support those in need. I work Nightshift so all the other staff think that just because I do nightshift means that they can blame me for everything. I literally mean everything. The worst part of this is the supervisor in my unit is ANTI GAY! Shes apart of that Hillsong church bs and look I think its fine if you are into all that stuff but don’t treat me like shit and assume my sexuality. Like the worst thing she has done is literally called me a liar when I told nothing but the truth and bulges her eyes out at me while hands are on hips and shes literally standing over the top of me.

Whats even worse is I’ve only just started to get proper hours again due to the unit I’m working in just being opened up. Its been what...a week and its already this bad? The staff there, minus one or two, are really fucking bitchy. Like they are out to cut your fucking throat. I’ve always tried to do the best because in such a work place there are laws and sometimes the others kinda....cut corners? But when I do the right thing its like I’m in massive trouble. So I started to stand up for myself recently and give it back a little in a polite and diplomatic way...or as best as I can.

Honestly its not much progress, they keep treating me like shit and its burnt me out big time. hence why I haven’t been able to post or reply much on here. Its not that I dont have muse for Rahab, but its because they have literally put me through the ringer and expected me to come out all happy and do whatever the hell they say. Well I’m saying no from now on because its putting my damn health at risk. I do 7 nights in a row and honestly its fucking with my sleep pattern and metabolism. Its not good. Ontop of that due to the stress I’m barley able to sleep when I came home. I ended up only being able to sleep like 2 maybe 3 hours per day and thats not good for me.

So I’ve been trying to stay quiet for a while and just work on Kains Tarot card but all the stress has affected me a lot that I’m even struggling to do that.

Whats worse..Work will not let me leave. Yeah its fucked up. The law here states that I can but work is being bitchy about it. I’m trying to get a new job I just hope that I manage to get it by this coming week. So over all this stuff thats been happening to me. Its time to make changes and if it means spitting fire and having smoke coming out of my ears then so be it.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Have you ever had a really bad haircut? I didn’t think so at the time, but looking back at some of my haircuts I’m like...yikes. lol. Did you ever order any clothes from the Alloy catalogue? No. What brand, color, and type is your favorite eyeliner? CoverGirl brand. I only use black.  Do you wear eyeliner? When I actually wear makeup, yeah. 

Was there ever a time in your life when you couldn’t cry? I mean, yeah. Sometimes the tears just won’t come.

What’s your favorite type of yogurt? Not a fan of yogurt. What posters did you have on your wall as a teenager? The ones from those teeny bop magazines like J14, Tiger Beat, etc. What are your favorite type of calendars? The Alexander Skarsgard one I have. ;) And ones with cute photos of puppies.  Do you have a full-length mirror? Yeah. When was the last time you bought stamps? I’ve never bought stamps. Do you have any overdue library books right now? No. I haven’t been to the library in several years. How often do you do laundry? It gets done about once a week. Do you have a piggy bank? No. Do you remember your locker combinations from high school? I didn’t have one. What’s your favorite DIY crafts youtube channel? I don’t watch any DIY YouTube channels. Could you spend hours on pinterest? I hardly ever go on there, honestly.  Do you own plaid pants? I have a pair of plaid leggings. Have you ever had to wear a school uniform? The preschool I went to did, lol. What was your high school’s mascot? Nah. What were your high school’s team colors? Who were your best friends in high school? I had a few people I hung out with at school, but I didn’t really have a best friend honestly. Towards the middle of my senior year I did reconnect with a former best friend from middle school; though, and we ended up becoming close again. We were best friends up until about 4 years ago.

Who was your first boyfriend or girlfriend? His name is Derek. Have you ever been to Chicago? No. If yes, what do you like best about it? Have you ever stayed in a hostel? No. Would you rather sleep on the top bunk or bottom bunk? I’d have to choose the bottom bunk.  Do you love camping? I’ve never been, but I have zero desire to try it. Doesn’t interest me at all.  Would you rather sleep in a tent or under the stars? I wouldn’t go camping.  What insects are you afraid of? Um, ALL of them. Have you ever had a secret admirer that left you notes? No. Are you close with your cousins? I used to be with some of them. Not anymore, though. I became distant and withdrawn from everyone. Are you close to any aunts or uncles? One of them. Are you close to your grandparents? I was with my maternal grandparents. I was very close to my grandma, she was my best friend. Sadly, both of them passed away over 10 years ago. My paternal grandparents are fortunately still alive, but I don’t have the same relationship with them as I did with my other grandparents. It’s not a bad one at all, I love them, but we’re just not as close. Who betrayed your trust? People. Who was your first best friend (apart from a sibling)? How about a cousin? ha. What was your favorite thing to do at sleepovers when you were younger? My cousins and I stayed up late watching movies, snacking, and just hanging out. What kind of popcorn is your favorite? Extra buttery with salt. Also, this one theater I go to has this garlic parm seasoning you can add that is delicious.  Does your town have a big fountain in it? Yeah. What is your town known for? Nothing good. Do you currently live in the city you grew up in? Yes. What’s one way in which you’re behind the times? I don’t get the appeal of TikTok haha. What’s one way in which you’re still a child? I just still kinda feel like one in some ways. I feel...stunted? I don’t know.  What’s one way in which you’re old? I’m 30 years old so that’s one way, ha. Also, I was around for dial-up internet. :O lol. Those days of AOL were horrible. You were kicked off all the time and you couldn’t be on if someone was on the phone. The torture. Do you feel old or young? Or do you feel both at different times? Both at different times. I’m always like, “waaah I’m so old”, but like I said I also feel younger than I am.  How old are you? I’ve mentioned this already. Do you know what you want to do for your next birthday? Nope and I don’t care. It’s a long way to go for one, but also it’s just whatever. I don’t get excited about my birthday anymore. If yes, what is it? What is the last new thing you discovered that was really good? I’ve been watching new stuff on Netflix and Hulu lately and catching up on some others. What would be the best surprise you could receive right now? I’d love if we were able to go on like a week long vacay or something, ha. Do you usually forgive when someone hurts your or try to get revenge? I’m not revengeful at all. Were there any subjects in school that were really easy for you? English. If so, what? Dude, you never need to ask me for more information. Look how long all my answers are lol <<< Lol, right?  Did you ever skip a grade or get held back a grade? No. What time of day were you born? In the evening. What is the best hairstyle you’ve ever had? Dyeing my hair red. Do you think you look better with dyed hair or natural hair? I much prefer dyed hair, particularly the red.  Do you think your look better with curly hair or straight hair? I like when it’s pin straight. Do you have bangs? No. I did for majority of my life, though. I kinda want to get them again. *shrug* Do you think you look better with bangs or without? The bangs hide my fivehead hahah. Do you think you look better with long hair or short? I mean, I look like crap no matter what, but I prefer my long hair. What’s your favorite rock band? I couldn’t possibly choose. When it comes to music, movies, and books I can’t choose a favorite cause so much I like. Who’s your favorite country singer? I like country, but I don’t have a particular favorite, really. Do you ever listen to Celtic music? No. Do you listen to Hillsong? No. Did you try the unicorn frappuccino, and if yes, were you a fan? I didn’t try it.   Have you ever won a contest? Yes. Have you ever wanted to be a model, actress, singer, or dancer? In high school I wished I could be on the dance team, ha. I also wish I had any singing ability at all, but alas.   When you look at your baby pictures, do you recognize yourself? No. Babies just look like ugly old aliens. I do not think I look like that at all. <<< Hahah aww! I thought I was a cute baby... not sure what happened as I got older, ha. I look back and I don’t see much resemblance to myself. Now I just see a troll. Has your hair color changed since you were a toddler? No, my natural hair is still dark brown. I dye it red, though. Do you wear matching socks? Yes. How many drawers does your dresser have? 3. I need a bigger one. Do you own an American flag shirt? I have one that has the American flag design on some of the shirt. Do you own a British flag shirt? No. Do you have a seashell collection? No. Do you have a rock collection? I do, actually. Do you decorate for Halloween? Yeah. What is your favorite thing to do in the pool? I don’t like getting in the pool. Flamingos or pineapples? Uh not sure what the relation is, but I guess flamingos cause I don’t like pineapples. Cacti or seashells? Seashells. Maple tree or palm tree? Maple tree. Dreamcatcher or wind chimes? Wind chimes. Have you ever taken a picture at the perfect moment? Yeah. Do you have a crush right now? No. What color was your first car? I haven’t had a car. I don’t drive. Was your first car used or new? Do you have a car now? What color(s) eyeshadow do you wear the most? I haven’t worn eyeshadow in such a long time, but when I did I usually went for like brown shades. Sometimes I’d venture out and use different colors.

[relentless-for-jesus]

How do YOU feel about Hillsong?

Honestly?? I feel like they're kinda sketchy. They seem to preach the same message over and over again in different ways and not dive deeper into the spiritual things.

One of their somewhat recent music videos that I watched really seemed off to me. It kind of seemed demonic actually.

I like their older music, but I don't know what exactly they have going on now. They seem kind of cult like to me. Something about them is off. I feel like some people part of it are genuine, but are just not realizing what is really going on.

Just my thoughts!

God Bless you!

[ohmygoshimmovingon]

Comfort

Comfort (noun)

1. a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.

2. the easing or alleviation of a person's feelings of grief or distress.

Comfort (verb)

1. ease the grief or distress of; console.

One of the best feelings is comfort. Everyone’s comfort is different. You can find comfort in so many things. Comfort comes from being in your bed, or being in bed with someone who brings you comfort. Comfort comes with eating your favorite food, or a home cooked meal (especially after you’ve been eating caf food in college every day). Comfort comes from being with family and friends. Comfort comes from watching your favorite movie, even if it is the 50th time, and you’ve memorized every word. Comfort comes from driving late at night, listening to that song (you know the song, it may not be your absolute fav, but it is your fav to listen to when you’re doing the late night drive. You know the one). Comfort comes from the things you do when you’re sad, even if it is listening to sad songs, when you’re already sad, that only makes you MORE sad. Comfort comes from a random feeling from people around you, there is no way you could even put the feeling into words. Comfort comes from reading and reflecting on your favorite bible verse. Comfort comes from hearing someones voice or someone’s laugh. Comfort comes from just being in the presence of the right person. Comfort comes from shopping at your favorite store, even if you spend wayyyy too much money. Comfort comes from seeing the right person’s name pop up on your phone. Comfort comes from that scent, like the song, you just have to know the scent. Comfort comes from taking off that outfit that you only where that you only wore to look cute, and not for comfort. Comfort comes from a hug from someone, whether it is a greeting hug, a hug when you’re sad, any type of hug. Comfort comes from the people you surround yourself with hyping you up, when you don’t feel like you look your best. Comfort comes from the hobby you do to take your mind off of things, and just escape. Comfort comes from your favorite pair of shoes, all types, shapes, and sizes. Comfort comes from your favorite late night snack (Like when you wake up at 2am, can’t sleep, get bored, and decide, to put your boredom to rest, you’re gonna eat. EVEN THOUGH, you’re not even hungry). Comfort comes from that nail color you get when you’re at a loss of what to get. Comfort comes from wearing all your normal rings and jewelry (I know we all feel naked without them). Comfort comes from a shower, perfect temperature, nice playlist, and towel ready. Comfort comes from where you find it, because it is different for everyone. 

Who, what, and where does my comfort come from? My bed is my favorite place in the world to feel comfortable, but I also find comfort sleeping anywhere with my Bub next to me. My favorite food is wings, you alreaddyyyy knowwww, but my favorite home cooked meal is my Gmoney’s baked macaroni, roast, and veggies (Big Al’s crawfish is a HOT second). Being around family is great, shoutout to my Gmoney, my Ten, and Trent. Friends can always make things better, honorable mention: Bub (shocking, I know), Hoes Don’t Get Cold, THOSE bitches, and even Sands and Drakey. My favorite movie(s), because I can’t pick one, are The Greatest Showman, Moana, and The Blind Side. My late night drive go to is Oceans by Hillsong United, but right after that, it is either Crazy Beautiful by Luke Combs or Speechless by Dan and Shay (honestly I have a late night playlist, these are just the ones I like the best, right now, subject to change). When I’m sad, I watch David Dobrik, possibly James Charles and Jeffree Star (mainly David, I will normally start then in order, over and over). I also, have a sad song playlist (It WILL make you cry, hit me up if you’re tryna cry, I’ll give you the deets). My random comfort feeling comes in the Dome at the Saints games. There is no other feeling like it. My favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 16:24 “Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul”. This is my favorite Bible verse because my Gramps would always remind me of it constantly (this is always why I tend to call everyone honey, well hunny). My favorite voice and laugh to hear is, yes, you guess it, Bub’s. I’m sorry he brings me so much comfort y’all, I’m just being honest. The person whose presence brings me comfort, well, Bub, again, but also Maria. They both make me feel so much less alone, even if we aren’t talking and we are just being together. As bad as it is for my wallet, Lulu Lemon brings me a whole new world of comfort. Okay, I shouldn’t even touch on this one, because YES, THE PERSON WHOSE NAME POPPING UP ON MY PHONE THAT I LOVE THE MOST IS BUB. Special shoutout though, my favorite time it pops up is when it says “Juan Raymundo answered incorrectly” on Trivia Crack. The scent of my Gmoney brings me a serious comfort, and the smell of a certain someone’s (yes.) clothes when I miss them. Every night I go out or wear fricken JEANS, it is the greatest feeling to take the outfit off, wash my face, and put on a big tshirt (no bra of course) and shorts. The hug thing is specific for each thing, and kinda works the same for everyone. If you haven’t seen someone in a while, it feels great to hug them (it’s that long good snug hug). When I cry, I like to be held by Maria, and Bub. I have to say, there was one time, in Lafayette, when Maria and I were leaving, and Sands knew I was sad. He hugged me and we exchanged a look, and it was like a mutual (everything will be okay look). That hug was one that definitely brought comfort. My friends HYPE. ME. UP. Hoes Don’t Get Cold, THOSE bitches, even Bub most times. To escape from the world, I like to paint (watercolor hits the spot). This is the thing I do when I don’t nap to escape. My pair of shoes of choice, is indeed, my very classic 270s. You’ve all seen them, because I wear them, uhhh pretty much everyday. At night, thanks to Juan Manuel Raymundo, my fav snack is purple Doritos and fucking Queso. I am well aware that is unnecessary calories, but YALL, it is so good. White, light blue, or black, and white again. Those are my go to nail colors, and by go to, I mean they are the ONLY colors I have ever and will ever get. I wear 4 rings. My class ring on my middle finger on the left hand. On my right hand, the index finger is home to the cursive s ring Juan’s mom got me for Christmas, my middle finger houses the thick ring with a raised cross my Ten gave me, and my ring finger is for my 3 shotgun house ring from Jose Bali that my Gmoney got me. I wear my S THOSE bitches necklace everyday, and my star cuff bracelet. I ALWAYS have a ponytail and a scrunchie on my wrist, if the scrunchie isn’t in my hair (but i always have the extra ponytail, because you never know). Recently, I have been wearing my colorful “Sophie” thread bracelet next to my star cuff too. I CANNOT forget the four piercings in each of my ears. I don’t even care what earrings are in them. I just need them in. I like my showers absolutely SCALDING hot, like burn my skin please. I would like the water temperature to be so hot, it fogs up the mirror almost immediately. I tend to listen to very mellow music. 

I know it seems like I have so many things that make me comfortable, and there are probably more. As you all noticed, a lot of my comforts root from Juan. I would like to think that I am a good amount of his too. I don’t think it is a bad thing that he makes me feel so comfortable. I think it just another thing to add to the list of reasons he is my best friend. I am sure you think that these all have an underlying message that relates back to Bub. You’re not wrong, but it isn’t completely intentional (the last one obviously was). He is extremely important to me, and he has helped me so much. Things are hard, and have been for a while now, and he has been my distraction and hope. Finding someone you can connect with like I connect with him, is a 20/10 experience. Just don’t pick him, -20/10 would recommend that, because I’ll kill you. He’s my best friend mofos. LOML.  

[wherethesunsails]

Wait I have a question. What's the difference between being Christian and being Catholic? I was raised Catholic and I always thought it was sorta the same hat lol

Oh! I (sort of) know how to answer this!

Okay so like Christianity originally was Catholicism but then the whole Reformation happened and Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of whatever the hell church because the Catholic church was selling entrance to heaven (which is whack as shit lmao) and he was like “bro,,, that’s wrong. That ain’t how heaven works. Have y’all even read the Bible” and so the Protestant movement was born. (Fun fact on St Patty’s Day if you’re Catholic you’re supposed to wear green but you’re supposed to wear orange if you’re Protestant)

So Catholicism right? You’ve got your rosaries, your priests, your nuns, your bishops, your cardinals, your pope. (I don’t actually know if the cardinals still exist in Catholicism I’m dragging up history class here forgive me) You do confession, some people get married to God, Hail Mary full of grace, Our Father who art in heaven, midnight mass, the virgin Mary, patron saints, lighting candles, getting confirmed, cathedrals, etc. And I think there are different denominations of Catholicism? I’m not sure.

Christianity focuses more on Jesus and his Life and Times. Our churches are usually less decorative than Catholic churches (some of them aren’t…. there’s a specific denomination that I can’t think of right now that’s like,,,, whoa there buddy.) we’re less about Rules and more “Jesus loves you, come as you are and serve him and become more like him believe he’s your personal saviour and you’ll go to heaven” etc etc. We have an ass ton of denominations (I’m going to rant about the denominations for a while here)(grace brethren, baptist (those two don’t dance bc dancing is a sin), presbyterian, sovereign grace (newer one, my old church switched to that), hillsong (cult. don’t do it), evangelicals, technically mormons and jehovah’s witnesses but we don’t claim them because No lmao, nondenominational for people who need to feel special and millennial (listen i adore millennials but oh my GOD nondenominational people drive me up the wall), southern baptist which holy moses just no, lutherans, calvanists, methodist, pentecostals, angelican, the scientisters or whatever the fuck you call them (you know those ones that are like we don’t need medicine GOD will heal us and you’re just like ,,, bitch take a xanax), oh yeah and like Messianic Jews who are like Jewish people who believe that Jesus was the Messiah from the old testament shout out to those guys)

I feel like I don’t know enough about Catholicism to properly compare and contrast them but like,,, Catholicism is very ritualistic and traditional. Christianity is more about your personal relationship with God. Both of us do communion and celebrate the birth of Jesus but Catholicism focuses way more on Mary than we do. We’re like “hell yeah she got chosen to be Jesus’s mom that’s dope” and Catholics are kinda like “hell yeah she got chosen to be Jesus’s mom so she’s the one we should pay attention to” (I’m so sorry I know that’s wrong I’m trying)

Anyway if anyone knows more about the similarities/differences between Christianity and Catholicism than I do please chime in!

[myonlyparadiselost]

URL as Song Titles tag

omg @ddaengboys you absolute angel thanks for the tag lol I’m kinda scared to show yall my musical tastes but I hope you take these songs and love them like I do <3

tbh I haven’t listened to anything other than kpop the last year so I might be a little rusty lol i’ll exclude kpop from this list

merry go ‘round - my girl, kacey musgraves

you are the reason - calum scott

oceans - hillsong united

needy - ariana grande

liability - lorde

your guardian angel - the red jumpsuit apparatus (it’s been 10 years and I still fuck with this song, heavy)

please don’t say you love me - gabrielle aplin

all i ever wanted - paramore

reforget - lauv

all time low - jon bellion

daughters - john mayer (i listen to this song once a year bc i cry way too much when i listen to it; damn you, mayer. making me feel shit)

i found a boy - adele

she used to be mine- sara bareilles /still in love - thirdstory (i love them)

love like this - kodaline

over (when we say goodbye) - thirdstory

somebody new - hozier

tennessee rain - addison agen / to build a home - the cinematic orchestra (my literal favorite song in the world but I couldn’t choose lol)

edit: this was the hardest thing i’ve had to do in a while lol sorry it took so long

[raindragonwing]

For the ask game: 1, 4, 15, 22

I GOT ONE :D :D :D THANKS!!!

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to? 

Read Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, especially Stormlight Archive. Also read Uprooted, the Earthsea Cycle, and LOTR. Watch How to Train Your Dragon and Pride and Prejudice, and probably the Piper short from before Finding Dory. Listen to? forbidden friendship, if you could hie to kolob, so will i (hillsong), high hopes (p!atd), up&up (coldplay), and the whole Kaladin album while we’re at it

4. do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better?

I do like it! It’s a bit of a pain to get people to spell it or pronounce it but it’s unique. And with the rise in fictional characters with similar names (Rey, Rayla) I have a) cosplay ideas and b) a way to get people to remember my name.

My mom would always shorten it to Ray/Rey for food orders and that bothered me a lot, until star wars came out and Rey existed. I can’t think of any names that might fit me other than my own? I’m just so used to associated it with, well, with me.

15. five most influential books over your lifetime 

Oh dear. I’m going to go with influential to my life over favorites, here.

1. My high school bio book? that might be weird but that’s the thing that got me into genetics. (Honorable mention: The Gene: An Intimate History, for turning curiosity into obsession)

2. The Lord of the Rings. My brother forced convinced me to read Narnia and I did but was still skeptical about fantasy until he forced convincedme to read LOTR and i haven’t stopped reading since.

3. Cosmere. Mistborn: the Final Empire gets a mention here for being the first Sanderson book I read and it got me hooked. The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer (Stormlgiht Archive 1-3) have introduced me to such amazing characters who struggle like I do. Also? The Ideals from Stormlight Archive have helped me realize where I’m trying to go with this being human thing.

4. The Earthsea Cycle, for the commentary on self. A Wizard of Earthsea blew my mind when I first read it. The relationship with your mistakes.... so good. Tehanu is amazing. The Other Wind is everything dragons that I ever wanted. Also I love Ged, so.......

5. Uprooted. This one is debatable about being influential? maybe? but I think it still holds #1 for my favorite book. This is the book I’ve gone to for comfort reading ever since it came out. Honorable mention to the Temeraire series for getting me MORE addicted to books.

More honorable mentions: Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom and A Wrinkle in Time.

BOOKS!

22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order

1. Sleep. As much of it as I can get.

2. School. Yay college!

3. Homework, usually. Time kinda stops existing for me when I do hw so I end up never knowing how long it actually takes.

4. Working.

5. Screwing around. This is usually tumblr, other internet stuff, or playing violin or flute. Or researching random stuff. Anything that’s separate from school.

Thanks again for the ask!!

[imuybemovoko]

I die inside while dissecting Jesus music, part 4

I don't understand how they can justify still making more of this stuff. It's not like they say anything new...

Anyway, here's another round of psychic damage I could avoid by doing literally anything else, including healthy things like sleeping or finding a better job and a fucking therapist, but here I am anyway :^)

Since I mostly just Deadpool my way through these, I might come across as very fuckin sarcastic in a way I don't really intend (at least not this time. I might've in the past, I forget because it's been at least months since I did this to myself.) So I'd like to clarify this time that I don't mean this as a dig against Christianity as a whole, nor do I presume to analyze the way every Christian approaches this song (unless I do a Bethel one, then I'm going to feel pretty free to assume only the unhinged ones engage with it since that's my experience). Bethel aside, I'm looking into the way the people I used to run with interpreted these songs and how fucked those interpretations get. They do worse shit with the doctrines in general than many do, and music is not only a useful way to analyze it, but in evangelical and fundie circles literally functions as a way to speedrun the practice of inducing a panic attack in everyone present and marketing that as the presence of God. In the past I've kinda just been venting with these, but I can probably shoehorn it into some kind of useful analysis of a specific fucked up subculture if I'm not lazy about it.

Today, no guarantees on consistency in that. I should be asleep instead of writing this at the moment.

Anyway.

CW: extensive discussion of toxic religion, also I manage to bring up conversion therapy somehow.

Today's victim source of absurd suffering that I could've avoided: None But Jesus, by Hillsong United featuring Brooke Ligertwood.

That's right motherfuckers, we're getting into Hillsong.

I chose that one because I liked it when I was still cringe enough to unironically enjoy this kind of music. I don't think that's exactly what they mean by "kill your darlings", but fuck you, language changes, I can death of the author a phrase thank you very much >:(

alright. Strap in.

The particular version I linked above is an acoustic version of a song that maybe they do in other ways? I'm not aware of them if they exist, at least not anymore. Not being able to remember shit like this off the top of my head is kind of nice. I'll be getting lyrics from Genius like I typically do.

The format is a pretty standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus kind of situation, with a prechorus that's different each time it shows up. Hard to go wrong with that format.

Nah, they find other ways.

First verse:

In the quiet, in the stillness I know that You are God In the secret of Your Presence I know there I am restored

I think the stillness here is a reference to an incident from 1 Kings 19 where the prophet Elijah fucks off into the mountains, where God hits his favorite mountain with a downright apocalyptic wind followed by an earthquake, and then a fire?!, and Elijah finds God's presence in none of that but rather in the calm afterwards.

And then for a reason I forget, God says "bro what the fuck are you doing on this mountain?" I remember Elijah being a bit of what God would call a dramatic lil shit and I would probably call "fuckin relatable, I mean holy shit the guy goes through a new life-altering trauma a week in his role as prophet, no shit he wants to disappear into the hills and never come back sometimes, I feel that way and I haven't seen a few dozen murders, several wars, visions of an apocalypse that I'm supposed to share, and to crown it all, some eldritch horror with nineteen wings and a crust of eyes all over its body". It's not super relevant to the song. The reference to 1 Kings that I pick out of this might be a bit less than conscious anyway, the idea of God's presence as a voice in stillness is pervasive. Maybe the singer is just referring to just like reminding herself of her faith during quiet times, an incredibly common practice across probably all branches of Christianity including the sane ones, and also common in quite a few non-Christian faiths. I didn't need either of these paragraphs, but I have them anyway because fuck it.

Anyway I don't know why she would call the Christian God's presence a secret in the second half of this verse, they don't treat their ideas around God's presence being healing/cleansing/etc. as any kind of secret. Maybe there's context I'm forgetting or maybe it's a neat way of referring to it for the song because it does carry over some of that quiet place vibe. In either case, she's saying that this presence is restorative.

Nothing super fucky just from this verse, which is actually unlike the deathculty vibe from Even So Come, the pretty surface-level gaslighting of Gracefully Broken, or the "Jesus is my boyfriend and dying for him would make me cum" vibe of Even Unto Death. This one is honestly just "God has been a positive influence in my life", the song. Where this gets fucked up in the churches that weaponize this stuff is where just how intense they are about original sin and making people feel like absolute piles of shit for existing comes into play. I spent a couple of years in a Pentecostal campus ministry cult (AoG affiliated, if you know what that is I'm terribly sorry) and a couple of years involved with Calvary Chapel and in both cases, "restored" here is going to carry connotations of having any shot at being a moral person, being "right with god", being plucked out of eternal suffering despite having no fucking right to that, etc. We didn't tend to do a lot of interpretive work on songs, but this is the role it would play.

First prechorus:

When You call I won't refuse Each new day, again I'll choose

Sane Christians are probably going with something a bit resembling reciprocity here. Like a "God is a stabilizing influence on my life and sometimes I do things for him because I'm thankful" kind of situation. The source material they're drawing from frames this as an obligation, so they do that incredibly often as well, and I'm actually not aware of Christians who don't, but I'm sure there's a lot of healthier approaches than what I was learning from 2015 to 2019. Because in fuckin Chi Alpha or Calvary Chapel, this becomes "Trying to have my own agency is Satanic and I have to fight it every day, I'm a lifeless hole empty vessel for you God".

Yes, that's a reference. Dorian Electra is cool.

The chorus is a touch weirder just on the surface of it:

There is no one else for me None but Jesus Crucified to set me free Now I live to bring Him praise

It's giving "Jesus is my boyfriend" meets, in the last line, "Agency? Who's she?". I assume sane people think, "yeah, there's only one son of god, I only worship one god and he did do the whole sacrificing himself for my sins thing, I really like him" or something. In my series of cults, they take this something more along the lines of "hello yes i am either addicted to Jesus and my sole purpose is singing neat little songs to him and yelling about him in places where no one wants that and abusing children so they do the same thing, or i am not only deeply evil but not trying to do the impossible task of becoming not evil". These people literally want to fucking delete their own agency and be empty vessels for God. One guy spent like 20 minutes telling me about how he wants to rely on God rather than the mechanisms of his own fucking body to breathe and held that up as an example of what we should be. These lyrics are a little "agency? who's she?", but holy FUCK does what's inherent to them pale in comparison to how they had me trying to live. These people also lean incredibly hard into sin as a thing that makes a person thoroughly fucking evil. The last time I ever spoke to the pastor at the Calvary Chapel I subjected myself to, he pointed to his grandchild, a literal baby, touching a stove when he said not to as a sign that this kid is evil to their core and not as a sign that they didn't know what "don't touch that, you'll burn yourself, it's hot" means at this early point in their life. Every fucking thing you do is, to these people, a sign that you're infinitely bad and deserve to die and then burn forever.

Oh, and being queer in any way? Very much worse.

I need ✨therapy✨.

Verse 2 is also a touch hard to divorce from the insanity, but I can imagine it being, in the right hands, about as ambiently toxic as it's unavoidable for Christianity and its authority-based language structures to be.

In the chaos, in confusion I know You're sovereign still In the moment of my weakness You give me grace to do Your Will

First half is more of the normal actually stuff from the first verse, just like... the singer reads God as a stabilizing influence on her life. "Sovereign" here is an example of that ambient authoritarian language, which means culty people will do insane shit with it and sane Christians will just say that God is... I don't know the exact takes, but like an underlying force of the universe and has a good plan or something. And what is life except a parade of chaos and confusion punctuated with some nice chill moments? It's just how we exist, and that's neither here nor there, but it can be nice to feel like you have a stabilizing influence.

The second half is where this not only gets a bunch worse in culty settings, but becomes a little harder to avoid problems from, the latter mostly because I honestly fail to see how this doesn't end up becoming shaming. Like "God gives you everything you need to avoid fucking up, so why do you, asshole?" is a thing that I don't see being absent from this bit in any circumstance at all, it's just that sane Christians will go "eh, learning experiences amirite????!!1?" and cultists will go "we are all living proof that every single human deserves D̸̟̫̙̮̝̃̍̊̊̊̾͋̎̒É̶̛͚͓͙͎̈́̓͋̎̽͑͌̂̈́̏̕͠͠A̶̹̳͚̰͓̰̾͑̎́͌̀̄͋͜T̴̛̪͓̹̲̋͋̌̍̅̒̓H̴̟̳͈̔̈́̃̆͛̈́̏̕͝͝ for literally just existing, go forth and hate yourself until you're better".

Oh, also, conversion therapy rests on this premise. Christian bigots typically say "God says don't be gay or trans, and God can change you, so change, [REDACTED]".

That is, it rests on strained, uncharitable interpretations mixed with hate and a copious amount of outright bullshit.

Second prechorus:

So, when You call I won't delay This my song through all my days

First bit feels a bit ambiently authoritarian, just "God says frog, we jump" vibes that can't really get out of it there. Answering God's call is important to the singer and they express it in a way that's like "oh, ok yeah sure just hand the bastard a weapon why don't you". Christianity has that as a structural problem. Second line is a lifelong commitment. Nothing too weird there, I mean, people do that with other humans too, sometimes for worse reasons than someone who has a positive experience with a god might have for saying this.

Or, as AoG or Calvary types would put it, "Hesitating to obey God's commands is a sin and God might kill you for it." Because they're at best not approaching the faith in a healthy way and at worst, weaponizing the ever-loving FUCK out of it.

Time for the bridge.

Bridge is just this, twice:

All my delight is in You, Lord All of my hope, all of my strength All my delight is in You, Lord Forevermore

This is very "all your eggs in one basket" for me, but hey, I'm not a monotheist, plus the god she's referring to here didn't deliver for me. A sane person's approach to this might be something like "God is the source of these good things and also I like him a lot".

AoG and Calvary both told me:

that unbelievers are incapable of happiness (bullshit, but scary)

that people, even Christians, who don't yeet themselves as deeply as possible into God are pushed around by every idea that gets thrown their way and also probably fully want to die as soon as life gets fonky

that people who aren't the right kind of Christian who say they have any hope are either bullshitting, deceived by Satan into thinking that, or both

that people who enjoy things other than God are idolaters

and probably a lot of other similar shit that I'll uncover in therapy sessions one day

being God's literal puppet slave forever will be like cumming for all of eternity actually (of course they're far too prudish to actually use those words, it would've been funny in retrospect though)

or, in other words, they take all these ideas in the worst direction possible, of course.

I should sleep now. And probably also find a therapist.

Deste hságâneutá, sa dorá se hajse dlázo, se termíneko...

[exposingsmgask]

Hi i have a couple questions 1. do u know why hailey was crying at justins 2015 ama afterparty? 2. do u know why justin was crying after leaving selenas 21st bday party 3. justin and selena were so close in may 2015 bc hillsong was encouraging him to, right? 4. do u think hailey will tell justin about selena and sophias agreement now? how would he react? thank u x

1. Selena showed up and I’m guessing Justin ignored her and payed attention to Selena. But Selena has a way of doing things where she’ll make Justin pay more attention to her while making it seem genuine but it’s not. So I think this is what you’re talking about right? 2. Remembering exact details from 2013 is kinda hard but all I know is that she humiliated him in front of everyone at her party. He would try and talk to her and she threw his rose at him or like at his feet (aw lmao) 3. Justin and Selena in 2015 were contract based but it was a different contract than the one in 2011. I made a post on it called “Jelena contract 2015” 4. I don’t think she would bring it up.