Thoughts Of a Strange Panda
09 May 2020
05 June 2016
25 November 2015
02 November 2015
Titles
So I had an interesting experience this morning, I thought I’d
share it and some thoughts from it. This morning I got a phone call from a lady
in my church. She was apologizing for
something that I didn’t really mind at all. Yesterday morning a in the hallway
she looked at me with a big smile and said “Hey Big D!” I smiled and said hi
and went on. After that point something bothered her… she felt she had offended
me.
What bothered her? She didn’t call me Pastor. I assured her
that it was no big deal and that I appreciated her heart in the matter. I hate
that something so silly had bothered her so much but I understood it.
For me it really wasn’t a big deal. I’ve never really thought
much about titles. Truth be told, it is still strange for me to hear people
refer to me as Pastor Dallas. This is in part due to my training with my
mentor. The idea of titles was just never a big thing. If you had a
relationship with someone and they allowed you into their lives that’s all that
mattered. If there’s a job that needs to
be done and you were able to do it, then you took care of it, no matter what
your title was or is. That’s how I was taught.
That said I do understand that titles are important. They
have a place and reason in our society. I know for starters they signify
authority. If I walk up to three guys looking for help with a broken leg and
one says “Hi, I’m Professor John,” another says “Hi, I’m Officer Jack,” and the
third says, “Hi, I’m Dr. Jeremy,” I’m going to end up asking the doctor for
help. Why? I’m going to talk to him
because his title tells me he is an authority in medical matters.
There have been many times where I’ve walked into a situation and
I’ve had to be “Pastor Dallas.” People needed me to be more than just the laid
back geeky guy that I am. They needed to be a minister of the Gospel. They
needed me to be someone to bring the presence of God and show them the heart of
the Father.
Let’s not forget that we should respect people’s authority. No
matter what the position or our opinions about that position. You may not like
a pastor, teacher, doctor, mayor, or president; but the fact of the matter is
the title they have carries authority. So our honoring of their title is
honoring of the authority they carry. Yes even if carry it poorly.
I had talked about this on my Periscope earlier today. One
person brought up an interesting point. While I personally don’t care about
titles; there are those who purposefully don’t use a person’s title out of blatant
disrespect. In other words, if they don’t
like that person for whatever reason, instead of referring to that person as
Doctor, Pastor, Professor, President; they simply call them by their name or
sometimes… some kind of inappropriate, and colorful, name. Don’t’ get me wrong, I understand it’s hard
to be honoring to people we don’t care for, but how can we create a culture of
honor if we don’t do it ourselves?
Another interesting thought is that some people get way too
wrapped up in their title. They almost let it go to their head and hold it over
others. They are so wrapped up in their title that they lose their actual identity.
We are all fellow members of the human race; as such we should respect each
other. Yes your title brings authority, but it doesn’t mean you should look
down on people. Your title is a gift and if you don’t respect that title then how
can you expect others?
I guess in the end our use of titles and our respect of them
boils down to the heart behind the situation. If your use or no use of a title
is done out of a good heart, then fantastic! Honor comes from that heart. At
the same time dishonor comes from a broken heart. If we do not honor the titles
people carry then we do harm that person, their title, and our society.
So what are your thoughts about titles? Do you carry title?
Does it bother you when people don’t refer to you by that title? Do you have a
hard time using people’s titles? Comment and let me know!
13 April 2015
10 November 2014
Is Monster Energy Evil?
So recently there has been a pop up of videos and posts on
Facebook where people are claiming that the claw marks on the Monster energy
drink cans stand for 666. These posts are generally followed up with a fear
statement calling for an end the company and triumphant cry of defiance towards
the devil’s trickery. But are these claims accurate?
Dealing with the specific claw marks looking like vav…. I
really don’t think it looks exactly like it. If anything I think nun looks
closer (there are two versions of nun… not sure what the difference is in their
meaning). Plus traditional numerology is not about replacement but addition so
666 would be 18. Then getting into even more semantics, the Greek used in
Revelation is hexakósioi hexēkonta héx which is Six hundred and sixty six. Which
in Hebrew would be (if… and big if here… I’m understanding this right) Tav Resh
Samech Vav which looks very much not like the monster logo.
So where did the logo come from if it’s not some even
satanic message designed to pollute and subvert society…. Sorry I’m being way
to sarcastic here. Monster energy drinks
were created by Hansen Beverage Co back in 2000. They saw the success of Red
bull and wanted to get into the energy drink game. They had two problems; their
name was strongly associated with health products that young people (main
consumers of energy drinks) would want nothing to do with. The second problem
being that they needed a gimmick to corner the market.
The idea was to sell their product in cans twice the size of
Red Bull’s 8oz cans, but for the same cost. Now that stage 1 was completed how do they
overcome their marketing issues? To solve this problem they contacted Mclean
Design. It was Mclean Designs that came up with the monster concept.
They actually started out with several ideas such as
“Hammerhead”, ‘Fatboy,” and “wild Hare.” After some market research they
narrowed it down to “Fatboy,” ( because the cans were bigger) “Deuce” (because
it was twice the amount of substance), and then “Monster.” They chose monster
because Monster represented the fact that it was a bigger can (A Monster Can), it gave “maniacal energy”, and
monster had a sense of being different/ bit of a renegade which was their
target audience.
In the beginning they had several different types of cans.
One was black with a lizard looking creature on it. Another was black with same
creature just placed differently. They also had a couple of cans with a
silhouetted monster that kind of looks like Batman. Then finally the icon green
slashes that make a stylized M.
In the end the design firm and Hansen went with the M
because it’s simplicity and bold look. Plus it went over best with focus groups.
So nothing demonic with their logo… just want people liked.
Recently a video has been circulating with a woman
attempting to explain the conspiracy. In a very haughty way (you can tell she’s
had people explain to she is mistaken and she resents the claim) explaining some
other things. In her explanation of the M she points out that the claw marks re
no connected and that’s why she believes it to be Hebrew. However if we look at real claw marks in the
wild they are not connected. Again this is where a design artist is trying to
stylize an M to make it look like a claw mark.
The lady continues to claim that the O with a strike through is a cross. It really isn’t… it looks more like the greek phi. Which is sometimes used as a symbol of manhood, bringing more suggestion that this will drink is tough and not meant for the faint of heart. She attempts to make a connection to the phrase “release the beast.” However, if she’s a minister she’s forgotten the first rule of exegesis…. When studying something you must remember the culture.
The lady continues to claim that the O with a strike through is a cross. It really isn’t… it looks more like the greek phi. Which is sometimes used as a symbol of manhood, bringing more suggestion that this will drink is tough and not meant for the faint of heart. She attempts to make a connection to the phrase “release the beast.” However, if she’s a minister she’s forgotten the first rule of exegesis…. When studying something you must remember the culture.
Things in different cultures mean different things to
others. Great example that came from my Bible classes I took at SAGU. We have
the verse that says “behold I stand at
the door and knock.” This is a great verse that people use often to encourage
and motivate others to allow Jesus to take part in their life.
Well did you know that there is a tribe that
according to cultural reasons, that is not encouraging? When they hear that
Jesus is a the door and knocking they think that means He is a thief or worse!
Why? Because in their culture you don’t knock on someone’s door. You stand at
the edge of the property and clap and shout to them to get their attention. The
only people who knock in their society are thieves. Thieves will come up and
knock to see if anyone is stirring in the house. If not then they will sneak in
unnoticed.
So missionaries who visit this tribe will say ‘behold I stand
at your gate and clap” so that the people will understand. They took time to
understand language of the culture. We have to remember that Monster Energy was
targeting a specific culture. Young people who were into Xgames, (skaters, bmx,
snowboarding, etc.) A common phrasing, for that generation and specifically that
group of people, when someone was amazing at something, was “wow he’s a beast!”
Had nothing to do with the enemy but rather description of the energy and
ability of the person. So her drawing on
that reference was way off base too.
At the end of the video she very arrogantly suggests that you
can’t deny that the O is a cross… but we can… and she claims that when you turn
the drink upside down that you are making it into an upside down cross. She then
says “bottoms up.. ::turns can upside down like she’s drinking:: and the devil laughs.”
Seriously she’s really stretching on that one. That would mean that anyone who
used a sword back in the day is doing the devil’s work. Does this make some
putters that people use to golf with demonic?
Should we no longer drink SpriTe when we have a stomach ache?
This whole craze about monster I feel really was started
from a place of pure intentions. More than like started with someone who heard
the stories about kids who had KNOWN HEART CONDITIONS drinking 4 of these
things in an hour and then sadly dying. Then as they started to look more at
monster saw things that were not there. As a minister, I want to encourage
everyone to be careful about jumping on the bandwagon when it comes to certain
things. A few reasons
- You are giving the enemy, Satan, more credit
than he is due. We attribute so many things to him that have nothing to do with
him. People who jump at every corner claiming there’s a demon are giving him
more glory and more praise then our Lord. The more we jump at things the more
fear we breathe into the world and that just gives the enemy more ground.
- It’s like the boy who cried wolf story. They
more shout Satan the less likely the world will respond when it really is Satan.
- The world already has a bad taste in our mouth for well meaning misguided Christians on a witch hunt. Salem Witch Trials are a black stain in the history of the church. One that was pushed and motivated by fear.
Is Monster Energy secular? Is it demonic no. I can think of far worse companies that you shouldn't be shopping with but you probably won’t because of one reason or another.
So please friends. Stop crying wolf. From everything I've
researched… it’s just a drink. Honestly. The only reasons you shouldn't drink
it is if you don’t like the taste, you realize you probably shouldn't be
drinking carbonated drinks, you are sensitive to caffeine, or you have a heart
condition. It won’t kill you unless you are reckless and drink 5 in an hour and
you have a heart condition. It won’t send you to hell unless a can falls on your head and cracks your
skull and you so happen to not be a follower of Jesus the Christ.
Love you all, hope this helps to clear some things up.
Blessings!
06 October 2014
Lone Star State Mixtape
Mix that I did in honor of all my friends in Texas. I do not own any of the music. All songs are owned by the artist as far as i know. As always I welcome constructive criticism to help me become a better DJ.
Check out the guys on this mixtape by following these links
www.nategmusic.com
http://tjdup.bandcamp.com
http://mrtrinity.bandcamp.com
www.curvinemusic.com
This also has shoutouts to Southwestner Assemblies of God Univeristy, Christ for the Nations Institute, DJ Vow (www.djvow.com), and Eli Mendoza
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