First of all, please check your facts before you get accusatory. We know you don’t like Third Day, but if you did and had the album, you would see that they have pictures of a place called Salvation Mountain in California. That is where the idea for the album cover came from. Maybe Radiohead ripped the idea off from the old man who created Salvation Mountain since it has been their for a quite a while before Radiohead or Third Day.
Here is the link to it so you can see how much it looks like the Third Day cover, they just inserted the names of their songs http://www.salvationmountain.us/
MPT, i agree, it does look like it. But also, an observation, which i am certain wont be taken well, but it is only made in love as one parent of an infant to another. I have a daughter that truly is the sunshine of my life (i know, stevie wonder reference, sorry) and she me seems to pick more and more things up as i go along. she is 14 months now, anyway. I noticed from time to time you use colorful language in your blog entries, and while i dont see anything morally wrong with it, a word of advice is to be careful how often you use language like that around you little boy.
I am a pastor, and one day while i was preaching, the nrsery workers told me that my daughter kept saying “ass” over and over again, she was 10 months. The reason being that one of our babysitters says it from time to time, and she just kind of “picked it up” anyways, not saying you do cuss around him, but you might want to try to watch that you dont, because i am telling you, he will pick up the oddest things from you. And there are always the yahoos who think it is hillarious when something so innocent as a baby uses profanity, you might be one of them, but i’m not.
Not trying to be the morality police, just trying to help you avoid something you might not want. But i do love your blog, and the sample from “churched” looks amazing, looking forward to it.
amen to relevant, but i’ll take it a step further. there is no need to use words like that on your blog, whether your son is in ear-shot or not. why not step up and be an example? you’re a christian author who may have non-believers coming by to see what you’re all about. and you can’t stand out against the crowd anymore than this? sorry, but disappointing.
(don’t have a blog – otherwise i wouldn’t post so anonymously).
@Matt: Thanks for the words. I don’t take them badly. I appreciate your thoughts. Thankfully, Elias can’t read my blog just yet.
@Sara: If “damn it” truly offends you, then you’re probably right… you won’t like my books. Although, I’m not sure I’ve ever used language in a book. Thanks for your thoughts though.
@Brad: Nah, bro, it doesn’t happen… it’s a figment of our imaginations… 🙂
Sorry, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. You’re deleting posts because of drama? You are one of my favorite christian bloggers BECAUSE you have an opinion beyond the party line. I don’t always agree with it but at least it’s thought provoking. I was wondering what the language issue was. Glad you pointed out that you said “damn it.” I thought the dirty word was “lube.” Please don’t feel you have to delete posts just because you get some “pushback”. Another new word that I learned.
I’m a relatively new Christ follower and I appreciate people being real, which is another one of my reasons I like your blog. You are real. Congrats on the baby, hope you guys are getting some rest, you have some peeps in San Diego praying for y’all!
the other problem christianity has beyond copy-cat syndrome is the part where they spend all their time judging and getting more offended at language than things like poverty.
Wow! I am amazed….. at how easily offended we get now days. Thank you Matthew, for bringing humor into religion. Your writings are brilliant & are helping me find my way. I have never read anything that said as Christians we are not allowed to have opinions (Heavens sake it contains any form of HUMOR)…. I put on my Big Girl Panties and I come to your blog & never know what to expect..& that is what I enjoy about it! I am anxious to see how your vocab. will change in a few months though- Substituting with words like: Shoot, SUGAR, Darn, Poop, Wee-Wee…etc. Just Wait. It took me by storm, & I never seen it comming! Keep doing what you are doing 🙂
thanks for thinking for me and telling me what i will and won’t like, but i was in no way offended. just disappointed. there are plenty of people in the world who don’t hold themselves to high enough standards, and i guess i think authors who write about the Church and other Christian matters should try to stay out of that category.
Hmmm…I didn’t read the original post, but as a Christian I will admit that I use colorful language at times, and *GASP* sometimes I enjoy it! Geez, if sin weren’t fun we would all be saints and we wouldn’t need Jesus. With that said I can tell you that it is pretty easy to censor yourself around your young child if you don’t walk around cursing like a sailor all day long. If it is truly something you let slip occasionally in front of adults then worrying about teaching your kids naughty words is not really an issue. Oh, and 1 piece of advice a friend gave me is if you accidentally curse in front of your child (which many of my Christian friends have admitted to doing…once again *GASP*) then you just quickly say a few words that rhyme with it and it is much harder for them to remember. There you go! I have a 2 year old who loves to repeat things so I should have a bit of street cred here.
Hi Matthew! Just wanted to say that the content of the new Third Day Cd is much better then the cover art – the songs are great and its one of their best albums in quite sometime – I doubt that the members of Third Day even ever saw the Radiohead cover – but not sure about the creative people who made it – the old adage is that you cannot judge a book by its cover – if I did – then I would never have read any of your books! =-) hahaha – had to go there! The content of your books is better then the cover art any day!
Please contiune to do what you do – keep writing and I will keep reading –
God bless you! Daniel who keeps rocking with Third Day<><
I have never commented here before, but I love the site and I can’t wait to read churched! I can completely relate to you! Anyway, I was saved almost 10 years ago, am now 24 and following hard after the Lord. He is trying to teach me an incredible lesson right now about trusting Him, because I really desire to have a different job and I think He has called me to something specific (working with adoptions) but I keep striking out. That to say that this morning, I got on my knees and said simply, “God, I can’t do this day without you. I am helpless today and everyday to have a good attitude and do a good job. You’re in control today.” Then just a few minutes ago, I gave the middle finger several times over to a constantly ringing phone. Do I feel bad about it… no. I would rather do that than yell at the client who was on it! Ha! Even though I was close to doing so anyway… lol. I just wonder at Christians out there sometimes, have they honestly never met a Christian who was ‘real’ and been changed by it? Jesus hung out with prostitutes, I’d say that that was ‘bad’ or ‘offensive,’ why would you want to associate yourself in any way with that lifestyle? But Jesus did it. I’m not positive about anything regarding ‘bad language’ because stigma is so different for everyone. I just feel like that’s one more chain that we as Christians feel like we have to put on ourselves. I’m sure we could make a list out the wazoo of things that may offend others, but I’d rather spend my time trying to understand God’s grace and love and plan for my life and how to transfer that hope to others. Thanks for writing, its great! And I know people have said it before, but I’ll reiterate, your little Elias is gorgeous! And your wife is lovely too! Congrats on a beautiful family! ~Amanda in NC
btw – you DO know you can still find this as a cached file, right? And for the record, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the post! I like Third Day, but I wasn’t offended. And the language, pfft – no big deal.
Love all the pix of Elias. Hope you’re not too sleep deprived!
Ha— didn’t see this post but I can imagine what it was about… and you know what? We all cuss. My husband is a pastor and he’s said things in anger. Does that mean he’s any “less Christian”? HECK NO!
Besides, Jesus called people some very serious names in the Bible. If you look at the original text you find that in their culture they were equivalent to some of our bad words.
Copying.
Ugh, the douche baggery of it all.
I say…
Third Day, NO LUBE FOR YOU!
First of all, please check your facts before you get accusatory. We know you don’t like Third Day, but if you did and had the album, you would see that they have pictures of a place called Salvation Mountain in California. That is where the idea for the album cover came from. Maybe Radiohead ripped the idea off from the old man who created Salvation Mountain since it has been their for a quite a while before Radiohead or Third Day.
Here is the link to it so you can see how much it looks like the Third Day cover, they just inserted the names of their songs
http://www.salvationmountain.us/
@Kelly: Sorry, but it looks a lot more like Radiohead than Salvation Mountain.
MPT, i agree, it does look like it. But also, an observation, which i am certain wont be taken well, but it is only made in love as one parent of an infant to another. I have a daughter that truly is the sunshine of my life (i know, stevie wonder reference, sorry) and she me seems to pick more and more things up as i go along. she is 14 months now, anyway. I noticed from time to time you use colorful language in your blog entries, and while i dont see anything morally wrong with it, a word of advice is to be careful how often you use language like that around you little boy.
I am a pastor, and one day while i was preaching, the nrsery workers told me that my daughter kept saying “ass” over and over again, she was 10 months. The reason being that one of our babysitters says it from time to time, and she just kind of “picked it up” anyways, not saying you do cuss around him, but you might want to try to watch that you dont, because i am telling you, he will pick up the oddest things from you. And there are always the yahoos who think it is hillarious when something so innocent as a baby uses profanity, you might be one of them, but i’m not.
Not trying to be the morality police, just trying to help you avoid something you might not want. But i do love your blog, and the sample from “churched” looks amazing, looking forward to it.
Matt
amen to relevant, but i’ll take it a step further. there is no need to use words like that on your blog, whether your son is in ear-shot or not. why not step up and be an example? you’re a christian author who may have non-believers coming by to see what you’re all about. and you can’t stand out against the crowd anymore than this? sorry, but disappointing.
(don’t have a blog – otherwise i wouldn’t post so anonymously).
p.s. YOU might new “new PR,” because this christian has seen enough to know that i wouldn’t have much interest in your books.
Wow, ripping off a design from pop culture? Christians don’t do that kind of stuff do they? 😉
@Matt: Thanks for the words. I don’t take them badly. I appreciate your thoughts. Thankfully, Elias can’t read my blog just yet.
@Sara: If “damn it” truly offends you, then you’re probably right… you won’t like my books. Although, I’m not sure I’ve ever used language in a book. Thanks for your thoughts though.
@Brad: Nah, bro, it doesn’t happen… it’s a figment of our imaginations… 🙂
Sorry, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. You’re deleting posts because of drama? You are one of my favorite christian bloggers BECAUSE you have an opinion beyond the party line. I don’t always agree with it but at least it’s thought provoking. I was wondering what the language issue was. Glad you pointed out that you said “damn it.” I thought the dirty word was “lube.” Please don’t feel you have to delete posts just because you get some “pushback”. Another new word that I learned.
I’m a relatively new Christ follower and I appreciate people being real, which is another one of my reasons I like your blog. You are real. Congrats on the baby, hope you guys are getting some rest, you have some peeps in San Diego praying for y’all!
the other problem christianity has beyond copy-cat syndrome is the part where they spend all their time judging and getting more offended at language than things like poverty.
Wow! I am amazed….. at how easily offended we get now days. Thank you Matthew, for bringing humor into religion. Your writings are brilliant & are helping me find my way. I have never read anything that said as Christians we are not allowed to have opinions (Heavens sake it contains any form of HUMOR)….
I put on my Big Girl Panties and I come to your blog & never know what to expect..& that is what I enjoy about it!
I am anxious to see how your vocab. will change in a few months though- Substituting with words like: Shoot, SUGAR, Darn, Poop, Wee-Wee…etc. Just Wait. It took me by storm, & I never seen it comming!
Keep doing what you are doing 🙂
thanks for thinking for me and telling me what i will and won’t like, but i was in no way offended. just disappointed. there are plenty of people in the world who don’t hold themselves to high enough standards, and i guess i think authors who write about the Church and other Christian matters should try to stay out of that category.
Hmmm…I didn’t read the original post, but as a Christian I will admit that I use colorful language at times, and *GASP* sometimes I enjoy it! Geez, if sin weren’t fun we would all be saints and we wouldn’t need Jesus. With that said I can tell you that it is pretty easy to censor yourself around your young child if you don’t walk around cursing like a sailor all day long. If it is truly something you let slip occasionally in front of adults then worrying about teaching your kids naughty words is not really an issue. Oh, and 1 piece of advice a friend gave me is if you accidentally curse in front of your child (which many of my Christian friends have admitted to doing…once again *GASP*) then you just quickly say a few words that rhyme with it and it is much harder for them to remember. There you go! I have a 2 year old who loves to repeat things so I should have a bit of street cred here.
Crap boobs crap
Just thought I’d join in
By the way… my favorite Christian “non swear” was when my wife used to say…
“sugar plum fairies dancing in my head”…
instead of another word… that rhymes with sit… and is like shoot… and stinks like…
Yowza!
Well, for what it’s worth (not much apparently) I thought the original post was kind of funny.
HaHa Funny… Not Fishy Funny. (Since we’re all up in arms with the vocab police around here.)
😉
Haven’t read any of your books yet, but holding my breath for the new one. Looks cool.
…Cute baby, too… 😀
Hi Matthew!
Just wanted to say that the content of the new Third Day Cd is much better then the cover art – the songs are great and its one of their best albums in quite sometime – I doubt that the members of Third Day even ever saw the Radiohead cover – but not sure about the creative people who made it – the old adage is that you cannot judge a book by its cover – if I did – then I would never have read any of your books!
=-) hahaha – had to go there!
The content of your books is better then the cover art any day!
Please contiune to do what you do – keep writing and I will keep reading –
God bless you!
Daniel
who keeps rocking with Third Day<><
I have never commented here before, but I love the site and I can’t wait to read churched! I can completely relate to you! Anyway, I was saved almost 10 years ago, am now 24 and following hard after the Lord. He is trying to teach me an incredible lesson right now about trusting Him, because I really desire to have a different job and I think He has called me to something specific (working with adoptions) but I keep striking out. That to say that this morning, I got on my knees and said simply, “God, I can’t do this day without you. I am helpless today and everyday to have a good attitude and do a good job. You’re in control today.” Then just a few minutes ago, I gave the middle finger several times over to a constantly ringing phone. Do I feel bad about it… no. I would rather do that than yell at the client who was on it! Ha! Even though I was close to doing so anyway… lol. I just wonder at Christians out there sometimes, have they honestly never met a Christian who was ‘real’ and been changed by it? Jesus hung out with prostitutes, I’d say that that was ‘bad’ or ‘offensive,’ why would you want to associate yourself in any way with that lifestyle? But Jesus did it. I’m not positive about anything regarding ‘bad language’ because stigma is so different for everyone. I just feel like that’s one more chain that we as Christians feel like we have to put on ourselves. I’m sure we could make a list out the wazoo of things that may offend others, but I’d rather spend my time trying to understand God’s grace and love and plan for my life and how to transfer that hope to others. Thanks for writing, its great! And I know people have said it before, but I’ll reiterate, your little Elias is gorgeous! And your wife is lovely too! Congrats on a beautiful family!
~Amanda in NC
btw – you DO know you can still find this as a cached file, right?
And for the record, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the post! I like Third Day, but I wasn’t offended. And the language, pfft – no big deal.
Love all the pix of Elias. Hope you’re not too sleep deprived!
Blessings…..
Ha— didn’t see this post but I can imagine what it was about… and you know what? We all cuss. My husband is a pastor and he’s said things in anger. Does that mean he’s any “less Christian”? HECK NO!
Besides, Jesus called people some very serious names in the Bible. If you look at the original text you find that in their culture they were equivalent to some of our bad words.
Psst: It’s ok for a “Christian” to dislike Third Day. I’ve never liked them and I still haven’t been struck by lightning.
I guess I just don’t prefer singers who try to imitate Scott Stapp imitating Eddy Vedder. But I digress 😉
PS. This “controversy” has earned you a position in my blogroll! I’m sure you just died and went to Heaven! haha
Mark
http://denverintranslation.com