Video: Faith Forum 2012: Q & A Forum -- Scot McKnight

Scot McKnight, author of The King Jesus Gospel, expounds on the meaning of the term "gospel" back in 2012.

Video: Jackie Hill Perry - The Problem (@jackiehillperry @humblebeast)

Video: Intro to Reformed Theology (Feat. Jackie Hill Perry) | THAT ON3 VLOG

Video: America in Decline. Prepare Yourself Accordingly.

85 people in the world have as much money as the half of the people on Earth, Gerald Celente says. He is also launching a movement called Occupy Peace. I just signed up. You should too.

Video: The Radical Message of Jesus - Scot McKnight, PhD

Scot McKnight is the author of The King Jesus Gospel.

Life is a series of choices

Life is full of choices -- decisions.

Everyday, every moment we choose to do one thing over another. We show our preferences by our actions, not by our lips. We choose to pursue our passions rather than stay idle. We choose to be on social media rather than not be on it by our actions. We choose to keep relationships going by choosing that person over and over again, as the author above says. We choose to pay for things that we want rather than go without, and this shows our preference for those things. We choose to spend time doing this, rather than doing that, and these actions show where our heart is.

This doesn't make professions ("I love you," "I want to start my own business," "I want be more productive") unnecessary, for who in a romantic relationship wouldn't want to hear that? Who in a business partnership wouldn't want to know that their partner is serious? But these professions are necessarily followed by action.

Bam! This is how you start a book

Jeffrey Burton Russell begins Exposing Myths About Christianity with the following:

"Fashionably elite people are supposed to be atheists. As a result, Christianity is uncool in much of contemporary Western society. Human beings are egocentric, and if God exists, one's own ego is not the center of the universe."

I could end there, but I like what he has to say immediately after that:

"In many circles--the field of psychology, as one example--someone who takes Christianity seriously can provoke mockery or even anger from others in the circle. Humans are very tribal, and religious belief is a good way to get oneself kicked out of certain tribes."

The prose doesn't stay this good after the second or third page, but boy does it catch your attention.

As I wrote in my Goodreads update, "[w]hile Russell writes like a bored reporter, or an academic, which he is, the information is interesting. There are tons of footnotes, which you should expect from an academic. Someone must have really given him help on his opening paragraph, because it is really good and draws you in" -- which, I might add, a good lead is supposed to do.

Rami Shapiro should stick to talking about prophets -- not panentheism

Sometimes I feel that I am still living off of the intellectual capital of my undergraduate education; that is, I'm still living off of the inspiration I once received by taking a "Prophets of Israel" course. This book reminds me of where my sense of justice and love of the rule of law all started.

But am I really living off the same capital of my undergraduate education? Or are new deposits of intellectual capital in formation? I think it's the latter.

Panentheism aside, this is a good book, specifically because it reminds us what it means to be a Hebrew, or biblical, prophet. If you started reading from the background chapter on the prophets, you would have no clue it's a panentheist book, at least in the early parts of the book.

Rami Shapiro's "The Hebrew Prophets" is very good when it sticks to talking about the Prophets. Where he talks about panentheism, the fall, it is confusing.

Here is a gem from page 2:

"The prophet is often reluctant to speak, knowing that the message will bring the messenger much pain. But in the end the prophet has no choice, and is compelled to speak by a blazing sense of God's presence and urgency. This is what it is to be a prophet: to risk a life of derision and torment because your love of God and humanity is so great that you cannot but do otherwise."

Conceived from Rape

These three women were at the 2015 March for Life rally in DC.

The black woman was pro-choice in high school, and was amidst scribbling a pro-choice essay when her mother revealed to her that she was conceived in rape. She changed her mind a result.

The white woman on the right had a daughter who was conceived in rape and loves her daughter. 

The white woman on the left was conceived in rape and had a schizophrenic mother.

These are the images you don't see.

Lil Wayne Trashes the Bible on "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape;Uses "Lord" 30 Times

"Find out where your parents stay tell my goons to go straight to your momma room

What's in your pockets? What's in your pocketbook?

We think the bible's a comic book"

"Hollyweezy," Lil Wayne, Sorry 4 The Wait 2

New Orleans MC Lil Wayne trashed the Holy Bible on his new "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape, calling it a "comic

book."

It wasn't the only religious reference in the song "Hollyweezy." He says "Lord" twice later in the song, rapping "Lord please don't let this car break down / H-Town! Lord, I've done went from Hollygrove to H-Town."

He also uses the word "Lord" at least 30 times on the entire mixtape. For example, he says the word five times in the last track "Dreams & Nightmares," and six times -- the most in one song -- on "Selsun Blue."

The lyrics are courtesy of AZLyrics. The picture is a screenshot of a recent MTV2 article.

Lil Wayne Disses President Obama on "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape

"These crooked a** cops still winning

Black man family still mourning

Black president ain't do nothing

Need a real n*gga up in that office"

"Trap House" Lil Wayne, Sorry 4 The Wait 2

New Orleans MC Lil Wayne rapped the above lyrics in a song off of his new "Sorry 4 The Wait 2" mixtape. The song "Trap House" is the second track.

The lyrics were a shot at President Obama for not doing enough in response to the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and countless other black men, teens and boys who were killed at the hands of police officers in the United States.

President Obama briefly referenced the issue of police brutality directed towards African-Americans as "the events of Ferguson and New York" in his 2015 State of the Union address Monday night.

See: http://rt.com/usa/224615-obama-sotu-glossed-ferguson/

Additionally, last December the president proposed a $263 million spending package that will "increase the use of body-worn cameras, expand training for law enforcement agencies (LEAs), add more resources for police department reform, and multiply the number of cities where DOJ facilitates community and local LEA engagement," according to a White House press release.

Critics are skeptical that body cameras will work, citing the non-indictment of NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who put 43-year old Eric Garner in a chokehold on camera.

Lil Wayne released the mixtape Tuesday. The screenshot above is from an MTV2 article.