What music has become.

Why are the bands that suck the ones that get the most recognition?

I don't know. It doesn't make sense to me. The bands that are "making it" are making the worst music out there. Like Nickelback. Wow. After five albums and like 10+ years, you would think a band could get good. But no sir/ma'am.

Nickelback has stuck to the same formulaic sound over the course of their career. Which is smart from a business aspect. And people have to pay the mortgage, I guess. So I have to respect them. But I don't have to like their music. Anyways, they have not progressed AT ALL. This has caused them to sell a ridiculous amount of records.

I go to shows like once or twice a month (more if I'm feeling frisky). I have seen/played with bands that have more heart than all of these major label bands combined. They play night after night, make no money, listen to jerks bag on their music, and live out of a van with four or five smelly dudes. What a life. But that requires so much heart.

I listen to music that has heart. And that takes thought to understand.

I like to dig for meanings.

My friend calls the bands that are featured in AP magazine the "AP Scene." I like AP because it features a lot of cool indie/hardcore bands. Well the "AP Scene" has been infested with a cancer.

The cancer consists of bands like Brokencyde, 3OH!3, Breathe Carolina, Cobra Starship, and many many others.

The "scene" has lost so much respect for itself.

These bands are preposterous. I'm not kidding. It makes me question why I read a magazine (which used to be awesome) that features bands like this. They are a waste of hearing abilities. They are bands that cannot be appreciated. There is no talent, no dignity, no respect, and no heart. I think Brokencyde is a joke. Even Senses Fail says they're terrible (boom roasted!).

So I said all that to ask this:

When will bands start making good music again?

Well, there are good bands out there. But like I said earlier, I like to dig for meanings. It's the same thing when finding good bands. My friend saw a band at Cornerstone called A Hope for Home. They're incredible. They're the closest thing to the first As Cities Burn record that I've heard. Look them up. They're one of the smelly van bands that I mentioned earlier.

Someone said in an interview that, while writing for an album, they wrote about what mattered to them, and not what was important to everyone else. If you write about a subject that you don't feel strongly about, you won't really write a good song. Or a good blog, or a good paper. You're basically lying. But if you write about what matters to you, you're being honest. If you strongly believe in Jesus, you could write something genuine and heartfelt.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is this:

Bands, write about stuff that matters to you, and not what a label says is important.

I'm out.

Moved.

I went to a show tonight. If your curious, I saw For Today/Sleeping Giant/The Ghost Inside/The World We Knew/Between Hope & Faith/The Imperial. It was an incredible show. Words can't describe how it was. But I can tell you (to the best of my abilities) what I experienced. And what I came to realize.

I want to say this. I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe that He is the Son of the Living God. And Christian's have been given a bad rep by the world. This is reasonable. I understand. We pretty much deserve it. Just because we claim to be a "Christian," we think we're better than "non-Christians." And this is completely wrong. I said all that to say this:

I'm sorry.

I really am. I'm sorry if we have ever judged you, said mean things to you, yelled at you in protest, or anything else that drew you away from Christians.

We (not just Christians, but everyone) have NO right to judge anyone. Period.

Because Christians are just as screwed up as the rest of the world. We all suck. We all have something in our lives that separates us from God. Look up Romans 3:23. So when we judge, it is not out of love and righteousness, but hatred. And it's wrong. Completely wrong.

But it's okay.

Because we belong to a God that is bigger than everything in this world.

God is greater than persecution, addiction, abortion, gay marriage, etc. We don't have to worry about other people and their issues. We just have to focus on our own lives (strange concept, right?) and know that God will, one day, take care of everything. We can rest in that sweet assurance. It's awesome.

We belong to a God that looks past all of the crap that we have done, and will do in our lives. It's awesome. He is awesome.

Another thing that is cool:

God is HUUUUUUUUUGGGGEEEEE!!!!!!

No joke man. Imagine the tallest building, the tallest monument, the universe, the longest highway, and all of the "Eight Wonders of the World." Put them together. God is bigger. and His love is huge. His love stretches as far as the east is from the west (which goes on forever, by the way). That's just a little fun fact. But we can rest on that. And we can talk about it all day, and we will NEVER come close to the amount of love that God has for us.

In conclusion:

God loves you. He desperately wants to have a friendship with you. He will be the best friend you've ever had. He is ALWAYS there for you. Pinky promise.

If you have any questions at all. Message me on Facebook, or hit me up on iChat (fauberus@mac.com). I would love to talk to you about the love that God has for you.

Peace out, cub scout.

BTW.....I'm sorry if you are annoyed by my excessive Tweeting/Facebook updates. I just have a lot to say.

We are the generation

I was talking to a friend about tattoo's. Personally, I see nothing wrong with tattoo's. But the people within my church, and many other churches have a major problem with them. They think that "non-Christians" will view tattoo's as a stumbling block. Yes, to an extent, that is true. But, then again, tattoo's can be used as an incredible witnessing tool.

This is how the conversation started.

It led to this topic:

Our generation.

Our generation is filled with leaders. It really is. We can change things.

I think we can change the church.

The church has been viewed as something that it certainly shouldn't be. The church has judged, and pointed fingers too many times. It's ridiculous. Jesus never told us to do that. Jesus wants us to be in the world, showing compassion to non-believers and believers. We are put here to show the world the love that Jesus offers.

So why can't we just show it?

I'm not sure.

We need to show the world the love that Jesus showed. We have to.

I believe that God is leading us to the brink of a revival. I've seen some things this summer that only strengthen this belief. All we have to do, is take this love, and show it.

Right?