TALKIN' SPORTS-LINE

On the day after the Super Bowl, one of the most overrated hyped up events on TV---what better thing to post but a Bob Dylan/Woody Guthrie type song I wrote about sports idolatry---not that sports in and of itself is bad but anyways:

TALKIN' SPORTS-LINE
(Currin)

Oh I heard the other day, there's a new American religion rolling into town
You can catch the sacred show on your television sports network, every Monday night
Doesn't matter if you're on East Coast, West Coast or Mountain time
It never fails to be painted across t. v. screens, all around
You can tune in anytime you like; but make sure your screen is the largest size
For better viewing of that new time religion known as the show Sports-line
Wouldn't wanna miss a single second or you might miss a world record touchdown

Well, they're tearing all the crosses down and replacing them with sports equipment instead
And they are selling beer and millions of hot dogs for wine and bread
'Tis the last feast of the King of all Kings, you know
Take drink and eat for to remind yourself of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
That are otherwise known as Babe Ruth, Chipper Jones and Michael Jordan
Or maybe it was Hank Aaron, Sammy Sosa, and Dennis Rodman
Either way, you know that you'll find salvation, in your local sports show

Well, your churches are getting empty and your stadiums are getting filled
I'm sure on Judgment Day; the Lord of all Hosts will be thrilled
About the latest batting average or the latest record for most field goals
And I'm a-sure as lead that your touchdowns and punch-outs will save your soul
As long as you are a-going for the fastest racing record time
Everything for your sports stars in their sports cars will make you fine
For a home-run by your favorite team, surely 'tis God's will

Oh, and they're burning the church buildings down and replacing them with stadiums
For to build a place for your sports teams and to build up the new religion
The religion to end all religion, Sports-line really is
Because it's the only religion that to it's followers gives
Extra hard; and nobody cares about Jesus anymore
Because they are turning on the tube or running out to see some ole sport
For it's for these sports idols that Americans truly live

And a-everyone is chewing the fat off of the golden calf
Sacrificing to the one-eyed god on Monday night, every hour and a half
Because the Pope wore out his welcome, for his priests with children did mate
And your athletes are truly the real heroes of today
Well, I seen one golfer and he healed this one man who was blind
It was a true miracle of the sports god; and I seen one hockey player draw a sign
With the colorful words he spoke and it blessed the whole crowd as black eyes to them he did gave

Well, the thing about today is we need a good boxer to set the people free
And we need a political wrestler for the common man in the Law to believe
What a world we live in, where you can find sermons eating Wheaties, sitting on the couch
And well, you know Kelly Slater is the true messiah, he saved us with his wipeouts
And the sacred veil was torn when Tiger Woods made his first hole in one
You know, right then and right there, it spelled the completeness of everyone
And you know that O. J. Simpson was always innocent, sooner he did need to be released

Yes, and I heard the other day, there's a new American religion rolling into town
You can catch the sacred show on your television sports network, every Monday night
Doesn't matter if you're on East Coast, West Coast or Mountain time
It never fails to be painted across t. v. screens, all around
You can tune in anytime you like; but make sure your screen is the largest size
For better viewing of that new time religion known as the show Sports-line
Wouldn't wanna miss a single second or you might miss a world record touchdown

So everybody take it from me, if you want to be free, if you want to see the end
And if a-you want to see the gates of Heaven
Stay away from your church pews, turn on your t. v. and don’t miss your precious Sports-line
For 'tis every bit of heaven there, as long as you watch, because your stadiums are so divine
And a-your sports idols are the truth that will set the world free
The very word of the one-eyed god that will give you your place to be
You can even escape the gates of death by a soccer ball falling in the wind...

© 2002 T/H Songs, Inc.
© 2002 GB Lyrics, C.O.

Blog Action Day 2008 : Increasing Poverty Awareness

See: A Noggin' Full Of Noodles: Below The Line, Blog Action Day 2008 Round-up and Blog Action Day: Poverty and Biblical Economics and rlp's blog for starters.


Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.---thanks, Justin for the link to this video---I found it on your Blog post.

-Appropriate Scripture Verses To Read Over:

Matthew 6:24-34-NRSV

24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

And: Mark 14:7
7For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me

And: Luke 18:22
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

And here are some of my earlier posts on poverty:
TheoPoetic Musings: Relationships needed to break poverty cycle

TheoPoetic Musings: Justice of jubilee in Luke

TheoPoetic Musings: Thousands turn to online prayer during economic crisis

TheoPoetic Musings: Increase In Homeless Families

Here are some more of my offerings for Blog Action Day 2008:

Here is an article about the CBF's contribution to poverty relief.

Anyways, I like Dr. Queen and the New Baptist Covenant believe that relationships are needed to break the poverty cycle. Secondly, education is key as in:

Mentors, who build relationships with and help guide those seeking to improve their lives, are an essential part of the decade-old Christian Women's Job Corps and its counterpart, Christian Men's Job Corps, said Cara Lynn Vogel of Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina.

The job-training ministry sites are separate by gender and vary in emphasis by location, Vogel said of the WMU ministry efforts in which "women mentor women and men mentor men."

"The issue of poverty can be overwhelming," said Vogel. "But more importantly, we need to talk about solutions."

The solutions found in the Christian Jobs Corps efforts are built on mentors encouraging and enabling participants to develop through spiritual nurture, health and nutrition, education and job skills training. (See my post: Relationships needed to break poverty cycle---for full context).

Another thing that is needed is farming/gardening/technical agricultural skills need to be taught as a way of self-providing food. Affordable land for growing goes along with that.

Here are some thoughts from an interesting article:

THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY

With the saying in the Bible that the love of money is the root of all evil…and many strong words against the rich and powerful, it may seem strange to some that God would be concerned about economics.

But the evil is not in the money or wealth itself. As with many other things, it is the way that money is used that causes it to be productive or destructive. One writer said it this way:

When we choose the Lord as our sole master, He does not remove our money. In fact, He takes the money and transforms it into an ally. The same dollar that places a bet, pays a prostitute, or purchases "crack" cocaine also buys a Bible, digs a well, or supports a missionary. The same dollar the shrewd manager uses to pave his way into a golden future, a shrewd disciple uses to invest in eternal friendships. But the difference is the product of a choice of masters.

I have written in my e-mail list some about the extreme unfair trade policies among nations currently and issues that are similar. I said economic principles are an integral part of the Bible. This article shows in some detail some of the Biblical principals of economics and why they are critically relevant for us here and now today. They are NOT just ancient ideas that were a nice idea at one time. They are the ONLY way to solve many of the serious problems that our world has today!!

Unfortunately, many people and even some Christians and Christian leaders don’t think that these principles can work today. To answer this doubt, I have collected quotes and thoughts from philosophers and thinkers of many persuasions ranging from the Bible and Christians, to atheists to people like Confucius to show as clearly as possible why the Bible’s economic principles are part of the most basic human rights that each person on this planet deserves and why they will resolve the problems that we face. There are very few other concepts that have such wide acceptance among people of such differing philosophies. This makes it all the more critical to understand and implement these principles.

When God’s principles are ignored the serious problems that we have today such as terrorism, crime, starvation and others are inevitable. After you read these, you will no longer be ignorant about the main cause (but by no means the only cause) of some of the most serious problems in our world.

Today, poverty is at one of the worst points in history. There are a very few extremely rich people and millions of extremely poor. And some of us who are the privileged wrongly in a way live in a “matrix” of our own way of life and we cannot or do not wish to see the extreme suffering that is going on worldwide to the majority of the world’s people. This little thought is illuminating:

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish some place ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death ... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore ... you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

It is doubtful if the gap between the rich and poor in the world has ever been larger than it is now on a world wide scale. And this is not at all by accident. It is inevitable because of the rejection of God’s economic principles outlined in the Bible and practiced to some extant by many ancient cultures which did not have the destitute poverty like we see so commonly today.

Here are some songs which speak to the issue of poverty:

---This Land Is Your Land-Bruce Springsteen

---Only A Pawn In Their Game-Bob Dylan

---The Boxer-Simon And Garfunkel

---Badlands-Bruce Springsteen

---The Ghost Of Tom Joad-Bruce Springsteen

---I Wish We'd All Been Ready-Larry Norman

---Camel Through A Needle's Eye-Larry Norman

---Letter to the Church-Larry Norman

---The Great American Novel-Larry Norman

---Where The Street Have No Name-U2

Continued in next post: TheoPoetic Musings: Together We Can Make A Difference: Song Lyrics About Poverty#links#links.

9-11 Continued

Bob Dylan influenced lyrics:


DON’T FORGET
(Currin)
The British are coming, remember that
That memory is long gone, dropped out flat
In 1812, we saw Francis Scott Key write a flag song
That memory too, in our minds, is long gone
Remember the Alamo, where Davy Crocket fought
That’s just another American memory that lies dead and naught
Next comes the Blue and Grey, where brother fought brother
Of all that we’re never suppose to forget, this is another
Remember the Kaiser and all the trenches
This is just a memory past and filed away like lynches
How about Hitler’s murder of the Jews, Pearl Harbor or the Sinking of the Maine
Even more memories gone down the drain
How about the Kennedys’ or Lincoln or Martin Luther King’s
Assassination---more memories that don’t mean a thing
How about Nam, Korea, Nixon’s resignation, Wallace or
Regan’s escape from assassination---memories, memories and nothing more
Nothing less, but memories, memories from the past
Fleeting out in time, so very, very fast
Remember September 11th, how can we forget, well, soon
September 11th, we will forget, for it is just a fleeting memory too
© 2002 T/H Songs, Inc.
© 2002 GB Lyrics, C.O.


TALKIN’ TERRORISTS EVERYWHERE PARANOIA BLUES
(Currin)
I read some news today and it left me feeling a mess
I heard that the world is sinking down
Cus every which way you look around
All you can find, when you look out are terrorists
Don’t know much about that label, gets thrown around too often
Well, you know now they are saying, you can tell whose a terrorist
By the way they dress or the color of their skin
Or if they have a funny accented name
What a shame, I have a friend named Omar Jabar Lammyakgrow
Guess now I gotta turn him in, guess he’s gotta go
Well, you know the problem with terrorists
Is that they are too much like them Communists
Them Communists just can’t get no relief, when they cry: “peace”
Everyone starts to bomb em or else give em the big AIDS disease
Look out Bin Laden, you’re next on our hit list
We’ll treat you just like a suicide case, but at least you ain’t Communist
So now, I’s feeling sad and scared on account of the way the world is
You know I thinks them Communists bred all them terrorists
At least that’s what Patton would say, if he were still here
Or if the John Birch Society would remain for a million years
You know there’s a new dust bowl rolling up this way
It was all the Mid East that planted it here, at least that’s what the Southern Baptists say
They’re not terrorists, you know, the way they force themselves on others
So now, I’s searchin’ for terrorists all around
Pulling every cover upside down, going from town to town
I guess I might’ve turned a hundred Mexicans back to their Motherland
On account of they look funny, don’t look like us
They must be Terrorists, because “no Ingles” do they understand
So said I: “to Mexico you go or you bust here with this terrorist dust”
I saw Mr. President Bush come on T. V., he said: “every American for themselves”
So I thought: ‘Boy, sure glad I’m an American by trade but a Folkie by any other name’
Well, now I felt a hardcore sinking feeling in my guts
On account of this blowin’, mean ole black dust
That the non-Westerners sent over here by way of the Continental Shelf
It made me pause for a minute and reflect on the pouring down fiery rain
Guess those who don’t share our freedom, don’t feel the same
So next come the news Suddam is still in Iraq......can’t find him for all we got
Doesn’t matter if you are searchin’ for him or not
He’s a terrorist.....they all play the same game
And Boy, do they all look quite the same
They just all have different weird sounding names
Don’t sound quite American enough, I guess
Now, I’s so mad, I started weepin’ and a-wailin’
Moanin’ and a-groanin’, on account of our failin’
Jailin’ all them terrorists, locking them behind bars, forever
Especially that one they said was a Benedict Arnold, whatever he did
All I can say is at least he was a Benedict Arnold and not a Fidel Castro-fied Communist
Cos they would string him up then
For being the worst of all traitors, except for of course the fact that he doesn’t have tanned skin
I decided to check out the local scenes
Even decided to check out my dreams
Who knows, there could be terrorists there
They could even be blowing in your hair
Now, whose to say whose truly American or not
When mixed roots, we all do got
I guess that to define the answer well
Just look for the nearest Communist and lock them up in jail
None of them are Americans
“Terrorists, terrorists roaming all around”
“There’s evil everywhere, creeping up today, could be in your own town
Sneaking up on you without a sound”
The headlines read, guess that’s just the way it goes
When you look for it, it’ll someday show
So now I looked in the mirror and out of the corner of my eye
I did spy, like a wall that is occupied with a fly
A terrorist, he come, run up from behind
Roaming through my mind
I guess that we’re terrorists
Just like all the rest
On account of everything to the Mid East and Mexico that we do and say
Killing and bombing innocent lives everyday
Well, just like Jesus once said: ‘nobody’s perfect’ not even us Americans
So now’s the time for peace and justice and to understand
And to be fair and give back everyone all their land
Unless they are Communist or a terrorist, then you can kill them
But that’s not the Truth or the way to go about anything........like God, “Have Mercy, please!”
© 2002 T/H Songs, Inc.
© 2002 GB Lyrics, C.O.