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A few posts ago, I wrote about multicultural holy rolling (pretty catchy title eh?). I should add that I’ve seen people in non-Christian services mimic the same type of movements Christians would call “praise and worship.” Last night, I stumbled across the video below:

Supposedly, these people are affiliated with Todd Bently, but I could not find him anywhere in the video. Does anyone else see any similarities or are some Christians becoming too critical of other Christian groups? This is a fair question since pents were often ridiculed by the more traditional Christian denominations.

Video courtesy of CultFree

Last year was the climax of my awakening from the nightmare of poisonous religious beliefs. One incident that led to my escape was an update on the life of someone who was a committed and strong Christian. Before I get to the point, I should give you some background info. While away at college, I became friendly with a group of Christians who never allowed themselves to be tainted with the hedonistic ways of the secular youth on campus. I’ll never forget the Christian couple who brought their preteen daughter with them to our meetings. Here they were, a married mother and father together in harmony with their child.

This young lady was on fire for the Lord. She prayed, eloquently quoted scripture, and was basically a good girl. I can still remember her mother telling me how proud she was of her. She was the type of girl whom you knew had a bright future in Christendom. It was September of last year when I found out what had become of this young lady. The young soldier for Christ who seemed so rock solid in her faith ended up committing suicide. She had been diagnosed as schizophrenic in her early 20’s. It’s been about 10 months since I heard the news, but I can’t stop pondering the all important question. WHAT HAPPENED?

Was the “fire” we witnessed her schizophrenic disorder all along? Did she develop it later? And if so, how could a christian end up with such a debilitating mental disorder? After all, doesn’t the bible speak of a renewed mind? I should stress that I don’t know what really caused her disease. I suspect that her condition developed much later than when I last saw her. The problem is, there is a huge and sometimes dangerous problem within pentecostal/charismatic circles (I’d say charismatics much more so). You would not be hard pressed to hear people claim, “God spoke to my heart” or “the Lord told me…” so on and so on. Now what is schizophrenia?

It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.

Auditory hallucinations…delusions? Would those symptoms include, God told me… The Lord spoke to me…? That is not to say that all pents and charismatics are mentally ill. However, there are some Christians who frown on the two groups while maintaining that God only speaks through his word (i.e. just read the bible instead of chasing after a voice). To them, looking for a voice or a sign is both foolish and unbliblical. Was the young lady who took her life a victim of the “God told me” doctrine? That is likely the case, IMO.

Sadly, her story left me hesitant of embracing certain aspects of prayer and faith. Rationality has taken root in my life and I feel much better now. I’m not an atheist nor an agnostic, but I simply cannot go along with the madness that’s found in some forms of Pentecostalism.

It breaks my heart to hear of the men and women killed in Iraq or Afghanistan regardless of race. Thank you to La for posting this tribute as a reply to one of my posts. I’m afraid I don’t have much to say but I offer my sincere condolences to the families of these fallen female heroes.

What about a pedophile, a terrorist sympathizer, or a kleptomaniac? If you had to pic, which would you choose? Hopefully none of the above, but one woman refused to be seated next to fascist. Can you blame her? I found an interesting tidbit on a blog I like to visit called Lancaster Unity. London Assembly Member Jennette Arnold refused to sit next to Richard Barnbrook of the FAR RIGHT British National Party. It may seem like she was oversensitive, but I wouldn’t want to sit next to him either. In fact, there is something painfully sadistic about being made to sit next to such a person, IMO. That’s all I have to say about that.

I am sad and speechless.

Video Courtesy of MyBlackAmerica

If you’re a woman like me, your “first time” was probably awkward, scary, and left you sore. That was exactly what my first time was like today…my first time shooting a firearm that is. The thought of holding a gun in my hands caused a million and one butterflies to invade my stomach. When I arrived at the range, those butterflies turned into killer bees upon first site of the intimidating shotguns. I thought I’d literally freak out. Why did guns frighten me so much? It likely had a lot to do with how I viewed the purpose of guns. The instructor so eloquently explained that I should not think of guns as weapons, but as sporting tools. Very true, but it’s easier said than done.

That wasn’t the only thing that scared me. I had many preconceived notions about who the gun fans were. I can remember being warned, “watch out for the Neo Nazi types since they frequent the ranges.” Normally, I am not intimidated by anyone, Nazis included. But I certainly don’t want some Nazi teaching me how to shoot or come anywhere near me with a gun (unless I have one as well, LOL). The instructors were nice, though. Whatever their privately held views, it didn’t show.

So I was fitted with a shotgun that was about 75% of my height. My fears subsided as I held it for a while. Once I took the first shot, my heart raced again. The impact of the shot pushed me back a little. I thought, if the impact is this powerful for the shooter, imagine what it must be like to be on the “other end.” Talk about a horrific thought. So I shot, and shot, and shot managing only to hit my target once. The only thing destroyed by the experience was my fear of guns.

Physically, it was a bit stressful. The shotgun was heavy and the mounting position left me in pain. Pressing a shotgun into your shoulder may do that to you. Overall, it was a fun and worthwhile experience that I highly recommend to those mature enough for shooting.

Next on my list is becoming skilled at shooting a handgun. Can’t wait!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thought I’d entertain you with more of my favorite tunes. See if you can pinpoint my favorite type of music.

First up is Breathe by Blu Cantrell. I’m not sure why I’m drawn to music with lyrics exemplifying the angry lady telling her man off. Click here for more videos.

How’s this for a complete 360 from the lady giving her guy a piece of her mind. Jasmine Sullivan Needs You Bad…, her man that is. I heard this song for the first time today. It’s one of the best I’ve heard in ages. For more, just click.

Here’s Welcome To Jamrock by Damian Marley. I appreciate this song for the story behind it. Great lyrics make great hits if you ask me. Take another click.

When I first heard this cute tune, I thought it was another black guy in the vein of Omarion, B2K, etc. I was shocked when I was discovered that Leaving was the work of nordic looking Jesse McCartney. I swear, the sound between black and white singers are probably indistinguishable these days. That’s good!

Remember the days of Big Rock? Think Motley Crue, Def Leppard (their spelling not mine), and Poison. Hinder is one of the few bands that reminds me of that type of rock. The lead singer has an alluring voice I should add. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of Better Than Me.

Can you guess my favorite type of music?

Those of you who love romantic music should check out this hip tune by UK artist Estelle. It’s a mixture of reggae and classic soul. In other words, something right up my alley. I just can’t help but imagine I am the one actually singing the song, LOL. Yes, I do live in a fantasy world. Enjoy!

I was just looking over my stats to find the biggest search term of all time (well, the biggest search term to reach my blog that is). It’s none other than preacher Paul Washer. The only annoying tidbit is that my name appears third in the most searched for words to reach my blog.

My top 3 out of about 257 search engine terms are:

Paul Washer

Latin Men (I think I only mentioned them once, can you believe it?)

LorMarie

Admittedly, I am not an expert on how these things are compiled or what it takes to shift the top three. If anyone knows, pass along that information.

Once my visitors arrive, the “Who Am I” page gets the most hits which isn’t such good news to me. I’d rather my top page be one of the many blogging categories. This means that readers are more focused on who I am than what I’m blogging about. I’ll take that as a bad sign. So I’ll be looking for more creative ways to get my readers to focus on my thoughts rather than my person.