Amateur filmmaker Erik Koto emailed me this morning to announce his first ever documentary entitled Jesus Freaks that he co-created with Robert Nachbar.
Jesus Freaks chronicles the events of Creation Fest Northwest, a four day Christian rock festival in George, Washington. The official site describes the event as follows:
“From all over the world, people from all walks of life make their pilgrimage to the Creation Festivals to rock to the music, to have fellowship with other believers, to camp under the stars, to connect, to worship, and to experience God’s Word as it comes alive.”
Having watched the 25-minute documentary I must say that I found it quite interesting. There isn’t anything in there that readers of this site will find shocking, but I do have a few comments to make.
The vast majority of people attending the festival, and thus interviewed, were teenagers. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat sorry for most of these kids. Many appeared to have the type of issues you would expect in teenagers… drugs, friends, etc. And it seemed that many turned to Jesus for a sense of belonging because for some reason or another they just couldn’t find themselves. These kids just want to be accepted. They want a sense of belonging and Christianity filled that need for many of them.
What I would have liked to see is a little more of an in-depth interview with some of these kids. Do they truly understand their religion or is it just a “gang” of sorts that provides them a sense of belonging? I got the distinct impression that most of these youths really don’t understand religion or spirituality.
Take a look at the movie at let me know what you think. If there is enough interest I can ask the filmmakers to answer some of your questions.
No related posts.
Awww man, I love playing devil’s advocate at events like this!
“Hey kids, you think Jesus is cool? Wait till I introduce you to my friend Mr. LSD!”
“Hey girls, did you know that being sexually active automatically get’s you into heaven?”
… and so forth.
Besides, we all know the only “real” music comes from the exact opposite lifestyle that religion promotes.
Shaze, you be evil (I mean that in the nicest way possible!). Love your work.
“Jesus told people to eat his body, and drink his blood. That’s so cool”
I NEED that song. Seriously.
This film kept making me think of Steve Baldwin.
“Jesus Freak? Oh, I’M A JESUS PSYCHO!!!”
Yes, Steven Baldwin. Yes you are.
http://www.stephenbaldwin.com/
Suppose I should have corrected my spelling of Stephen up there. I’m sorry, Stephen Baldwin. Can I still be extreme with Jesus?
Unfortunatly, I was raised around a lot of religious fanatacism, and I definately relate these people with so many others I remember who also flirted with this extreme behavior. Most of those teenagers have no idea what they’re doing or believing. These are the same people in high school who would be “saved” one week, and the next thing you know they’re naked. Im not tying to say that you can’t be passionate about your beliefs, and Jesus or anthing, but I bet if a manipulator like David Koresh spoke at this convention he could brain wash these vulnerable kids into anything, even have them form some extremist cult…much like they already are.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that first riff ripped straight from Beastie Boys?
Wheat into Marijuana, sugar into cocaine, and Vitamins into amphetamines? WTF?
I was rendered speechless at the raw mindlessness of the freaks at this revival. A bunch of secular songs having Jesus shoved into them and they call it original?
“Jesus blessed my skating…” WTF? Cause you know Jesus rode a wicked half pipe…
“All the things I did were really wrong…” Not giving up your free thought is not wrong.
“Europe is what America will be like in 20 years..” One can only hope.
“Only 4% will be Bible believing Christians…” Please let that be true.
Cause you know we atheists just want to rape babies and kill the ones we can’t make gay… We can already do it in the Netherlands… Makes my head want to explode…
Ahhhh, youth. I remember that nasty combination of being young & immature and having my emotional strings yanked on. Poor kids. Hopefully they’ll snap out of it with age.
King Missile sang the sang about Jesus being so cool. Look up the lyrics sometime, the band is hilarious!
I just wished this captured what Christianity was actually about. then maybe we wouldnt be criticized as much.
you know what? i’ll admit it: im a Christian. ooh. so what? and, unlike a lot of the interviews of teens on here, i DO know what i believe in. people should try knowing what they believe in BEFORE they believe in it.
but at least people are TRYING to show what being a Christian teen is like.
and it was cool seeing some of my friends on there and seeing some of my favorite stomping grounds =]
one week until im back in this very place…thank goodness.
oh, and God can bless that dudes skateboarding. He can do whatever He wants. He’s God. hello.
“I just wished this captured what Christianity was actually about. then maybe we wouldnt be criticized as much.”
What is Christianity all about Anna? Because based on behaviors, it seems to be all about vilifying all who believe otherwise, denying rights to homosexuals, stigmatizing sex, and generally de-secularizing and undermining democracy. Many evangelical preachers are all about money. It looks like it’s about enforcing submission to authority, out-group fear mongering, and cherry-picking scripture. There is plenty to criticize.
I wonder why you rarely to never hear people picking on Muslims or Budhists for not keeping up with their claims – I don’t know – I mean – no one is perfect – I do think that there are alot of people who claim Christianity, but really don’t know what its all about, so they end up painting a picture of strait up hypocrisy – all in the Name of Christ. I’ve been guilty of it myself, in the past. The important thing though, is learning from your mistakes. The truth is, Cristianity is about loving people, and having a relationship with God – becoming like Him! Way too many Christians have become so judgmental – it’s not right – that’s why no one likes us – but only God has the right to judge! So why are we trying to step into His shoes and do that? Also, if we are going to call ourselves Christians, it’s time to start choosing to live our lifestyles according to our faith, and really know what our faith is! I mean – freakin get educated on what you say you believe in – there are too many frauds out there – you can’t just believe everything you hear. And maybe another reason why alot of people prefer people of other religions over alot of Christians, is because they can actually respect the fact that so many of them are living by their faith – they are educated in their beliefs. However, they are not perfect either – like I said – no one is, accept Jesus/God. And not all Christian are hypocrites – it’s really a personal thing – a character thing. You really can’t judge a religion solely by it’s followers, you just have to educate yourself on the fundamentals of that religion, and make a choice for yourself; what are you going to believe in, and will you choose to live out that faith?!!!
Sadly, this is EXACTLY what Christianity is all about. People following MAN but using the name of Jesus as a cover. This cult religion is the most dangerous in the world because they have so many believing that they are serving the true God, when in reality it is Baal, a false God they serve. Indeed this video is true Christianity, but not true God faith. A pity they are blinded to the truth.
RRock, i can’t help but wonder what you consider yourself. If you believe in what the new testament of the “Holy Bible” says, then guess what, your a christian. Quit trying to seperate yourself from the horrible crap that christianity and all the other religions have brought upon this planet, because your a part of it.
Irish,
You remind me of an obnoxious neighbor trying to tell someone how to fix their car or build a shed when he himself is a bagger at the supermarket. In other words, you know nothing of which you speak. Tell you what, define the term Christian BIBLICALLY. After you fail I will tell you what it really means. I will never adhere to the concewpts and lifestyle of modern day Christianity. Never. You can call me whatever you want, and it still doesn’t make me one of them.
irishthunder Says:
November 13th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
RRock, i can’t help but wonder what you consider yourself. If you believe in what the new testament of the “Holy Bible†says, then guess what, your a christian. Quit trying to seperate yourself from the horrible crap that christianity and all the other religions have brought upon this planet, because your a part of it.
You can’t define ANYTHING biblically. Why? because every person who reads it can infer whatever they want from it.
No irish, YOU cannot define anything biblically. Why? because you are a lost soul who says there is no God hence who has not the Holy Spirit, which makes you, biblically, a damned fool. A pity really.
irishthunder Says:
November 13th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
You can’t define ANYTHING biblically. Why? because every person who reads it can infer whatever they want from it.
P.S. Please don’t try to fix your neighbor’s car!
You can give a bible to every single person in the world and each and everyone of them would get a completely different interpretation from it.
Seriously, do you have ANY evidence for your god that doesn’t rely on the bible? There are religious texts that go back to the ancient greek gods and goddesses, and those were written LONG before that bible of yours, so whats the difference?
Irish,
The book of Genisis goes back to the beginning. Why do you insist on assaulting our intelligence with your lack of? It is mentality like yours that made us get rid of commercial television. The commercials were an insult to our our intelligence. You speak out of a blind hatred and anger towards a sovreign God. Faith comes to you from God, then after you humble yourself before God and confess your sin, He reveals Himself to you. Until you do that you will only amuse and annoy the world like a dog chasing it’s tail, over & over & over. Poor Irish.
Gah, RRock, you’re either to stupid, or to stubborn to see any other possible view of the argument.
also, you again fail to answer the point stated, and instead attempt to rfute a single example. Nice work.
since you completely ignored the question I’ll just copy and paste…
“Seriously, do you have ANY evidence for your god that doesn’t rely on the bible? There are religious texts that go back to the ancient greek gods and goddesses, and those were written LONG before that bible of yours, so whats the difference?”
RRock Says:
November 14th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Irish,
The book of Genisis goes back to the beginning. Why do you insist on assaulting our intelligence with your lack of? It is mentality like yours that made us get rid of commercial television. The commercials were an insult to our our intelligence. You speak out of a blind hatred and anger towards a sovreign God. Faith comes to you from God, then after you humble yourself before God and confess your sin, He reveals Himself to you. Until you do that you will only amuse and annoy the world like a dog chasing it’s tail, over & over & over. Poor Irish.
Howdy all,
RRock, it appears that you have mistaken the meaning of irishthunders question. I believe he was talking about when the books where written not the time frames the prose within appears to cover. Seeing how the meaning seems relatively clear to me I find it hard to understand how you could have misinterepted it. This does make it hard for me to accept that your interpretation of the bible would be the correct one when you cannot correctly intereate something as simple as Irish’s question.
Cheers
Simon Bond
Let me clarify the question:
Do you have ANY evidence for your gods existence that doesn’t rely on the bible?
Irishraindrop,
First answer me this and cite your database;
When was the book of Genesis first written?
The earliest source found is the dead sea scrolls from first century BC. I’ll cite a source instead of a database, look it up in wikipedia yourself.
Seeing as though that has absolutely nothing to do with my question, you think you could try to answer it?
Creation itself witnesses the existence of God. To try and corner me by insisting that I site another source other than the bible is immature and assinine. So then some book written by godless men would have more credence? Such thinking is so far beneath me that only your fellow Hell bound godless counterparts would appreciate it. The real truth of the matter is that the bible HAS been proven by many scientists, but you in your blind rebellion have chosen to ignore them in favor of liars.
Simon, on the other hand has shown some wisdom in his posts and replies, unlike Jag, Jayman, Irish, and Blasphemaster, all of whom are so steeped in dark ignorance that little hope remains for them.
Enjoy yourselves while you may, gentlemen! I have shaken the dust off me feet in protest at you. 14And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
15Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
That does not bode well for you after this day.
irishthunder Says:
November 15th, 2007 at 1:54 am
Let me clarify the question:
Do you have ANY evidence for your gods existence that doesn’t rely on the bible?
So…in other words the bible is fact because the bible says it’s fact and because the bible is fact everything in it is fact. Nothing else can be fact if it isn’t in the bible because the bible says everything else can’t be fact.
By the way, what parts of the bible (do you think) have been proven by science?
who lives in the bible belt of the USA?
Your comments are quite risible, preacher man.
The fulminations are quite amusing to read. I actually have started to perversely enjoy the slant of your commentary.
I just wonder how long it will last before it runs dry and becomes stale. Diaphorous texts get boring quite fast and you do seem to prefer those.
Jagannath, yours are quite amusing to read, too. I agree with RRock, you guys have no idea what he just said.
let it be done!
I know exactly what he just said, it just doens’t make sense.
Rrock employs typical circular reasoning, as explained by Irish. Then he claims that “the bible is proven by ‘science’” by which he presumably means that there was some kind of exodus, and a roman occupation of isreal etc. Which is the same thing as saying that Moby Dick is ‘scientifically proven’ because there were people who hunted whales.
the rest is more threatening and religious drivel, which is always a sign of a christian losing the argument.
*Walks into the room… shouts* I have the answer fool!
No. no you don’t
MUUUUUA HAHAHA HA that is HAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Where can I get one of those T-shirts that says “I mosh for Jesus” that is my cousin’s name “Jesus”
Wait a sec…I thought Rock’n'Roll was the devils music?! WTF!
You know, all you believers are gona feel really stupid when you do all this stuff for nothing and dedicate your life to something that does not exist. But thats the paradox, when you die no one can come back and say “shit this religion this is wrong nothing happened” or “damn i saw god and smoked a joint with him”. I to have faith, faith in the fact that i do not believe in christianity.
I to have faith, faith in the fact that i do believe in OUR Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus, he gives life eternal.
We all have the freedom to accept or reject this free gift of salvation through his son Jesus.
I love the word of God.
If you all want proof that Jesus is God then all you must do is invite Him into your heart as Lord and experience Him for yourself. When He walked the earth raising the dead and people watched this they still denied Him. I truly feel sorry for you guys that hate Him when HE loves you so much. I pray that some day you will be honest enough to admit yoy to need Him. I was one of those like you all who ridicule Christ once. Then He came to me and I gave my life to Him and He delivered me from alcoholism that I had been in from 14. This is all the proof I need and it would be enough for you if you would let Him love you.
There are a fewof you that want proof that Jesus is real and the only way you will ever know is to give Him your life. After all, if I am right I gain eternity but what if you are wrong and the Binle is real? AT the worst I live my life and enjoy the restoration I have been given.
crc:
In your post 40, your argument is tired and easily invalidated; you are merely presenting what is commonly known as Pascal’s Wager. See here for one of many complete destructions of what you have presented. You will probably find a thorough read of that link helpful, and it may even cure you of your jesus delusion.
Howdy all,
I must admit that I didn’t think I would see Pascal’s Wager coming up so often. I suppose it does demonstrate the very different way people approach the question of wether or not God does indeed exist.
Cheers
Simon Bond
Korgan, you must have me mistaken for one of those who try and prove who God is. I have no desire to try and prove anything. I am simply showing you the way to eternal life and unfailing love because I love you all enough to be honest. Trying to prove the existence of God is like trying to prove that electricity exists. We cannot see electricity but we do see its power displayed in every aspect of life and nature. The same is true with Jesus. This weekend as I prayed for 2 people that were healed from diseases, I can assure you that I never seen God in person but I did see the effect of His power. I also felt His love as He held me and poured His heart out to me. I am not sure why anyone would deny this kind of love.
As for offering you proof, If you were not so busy trying to convince all that you are this incredibly strong and independant person you to would find this love by asking Him to forgive you for your sins against Him and then you to could know and have this same relationship with God that many of us have. I will be praying for you!
P.S. The Lord wants you to know that He is not the kind of Father that will fail you and leave you when times get tough. Blessings!
I also would like to apologize for RRock that earlier in this blog was acting as a raving lunatic. I do not know him but i can say that the type of anger that he displayed is not O.K. Jesus would not resort to childish name calling and get defensive in that way so as a pastor I apologize for his ignorance. Thanks! Chad
crc,
The healing powers of your god have been often claimed and never proven. In that regard, doctors and modern medical science deserve credit for healing, not some fictional deity. If we followed christian teachings instead of modern medicine in medical practise, countless epidemics would not have been prevented and millions of people would have died as a result. Giving credit for healing to religion instead of to medicine is not merely wrong; it is dangerously wrong thinking, and lethal on a global scale.
You’ve since said that you aren’t trying to prove the existence of your god, yet you continue to attempt to present arguments to that effect, so you are contradicting yourself.
As previously noted, in your post 40, you had essentially presented Pascal’s Wager as an argument for the existence of your god. Did you review the reference that I provided regarding Pascal’s Wager, and do you now wish to step back from what you said in post 40?
My religious was in town and stayed with me over the weekend. As we often do, we discusses religious topics. I was stunned when she rattled off a version of Pascal’s Wager! After dismantling the ‘argument’ per the usual arguments, I asked her about why she used that ‘argument’. She says that it’s increased in popularity in Christian circles recently.
I guess it’s just one of those fads. I wonder if it is due to a new, popular Christian speaker or author revitalizing it.
I think the christians are running out of good arguments.
Well, that’s not really true, as there aren’t any good arguments supporting something that’s wrong.
The really wierd thing is that you all keep talking about religion and I hope you noticed that I never mentioned it nor do I agree with it. Religion is merely theory without experience. What I am talking about is an incredible relationship with the Creator of the universe and all that exists within. As you must realize it is not easy to deny the one you talk to and inteact with daily. It is incredible to pray for someone and have them get up completely healed. This weekend the lady had a tumor the size of a tangerine and immediately it was gone. Since it was the Name of Jesus, the One and Only true God, It could have only been Him that healed her. WHy does it bother you that God loves His children so much? What has He done to you but love you so very much? You truly amaze me. Jesus has nothing against modern medicine but why would i spend thousands of dollars and months healing from something that Jesus paid for? It just seems much easier to recieve prayer and be healed then to cut someone in half, put someone elses kidney in them, and be on medication the rest of their life. 2 Minutes in prayer and no scar compared to a lifetime of rehab. If you choose the later it is your perogative but I just don’t understand why any intelligent person would do that.
Again you say that we are arguing. We have no reason to argue nor should we. All I desire to do is offer Christ to you. If I have to talk you into Jesus or explain Him to you then salvation is not yours. The bible says that those who come to Christ must first believe that Jesus is God. All i must do is tell you the truth and leave it up to you to choose it. I would rather you be saved but if you don’t want to be I can not force you. The world has a wierd view of what Christians think. Think about it, If you were drowning and I threw you a life preserver, would I be worried about trying to prove to you that it was real? No, I would simply be offering you a hand from the kindness of my heart. Blessings to you all and I pray you soon understand the truth! Chad
P.S. I give credit for all healing to Christ. Jesus is author of life and when life is extended or enhanced I credit my Jesus with that. I am sure that you are not aware that Seatle is one of the nations healthiest cities do to a Healing Minister that was there in the 1940′s. The mayor actually publicly honored this revivalist do to his influence over demons and disease. If Jesus had everyone in the world as His child there would be no sickness. Disease and sickness is caused by Satan and sin. Think about it, If two generations would follow the laws of Christ, all sexually transmitted diseases would be destroyed. Jesus is the God of life and health! Man has been given wisdom to help people but Jesus is the One that recieve all the credit!
Howdy all,
“The really wierd thing is that you all keep talking about religion”
Given that this site is dedicated to talking about religion I do hope you are not really that surprised by the amount of religous discussion on here. I would even hazadous a guess that whatever it was that led you to this site had something to do with religion.
“and I hope you noticed that I never mentioned it nor do I agree with it. Religion is merely theory without experience. What I am talking about is an incredible relationship with the Creator of the universe and all that exists within. As you must realize it is not easy to deny the one you talk to and inteact with daily.”
This statement here clarifies for me what you are getting at, even if scares me a little. I have noticed the trend of religous people to try and distance themselves from the word “religion”. Religion basically just means a system of beliefs. How you come up with those beliefs is your business. However it is obvious from your post that you have a system of beliefs for whatever reason and as far as I can tell the definition of the word reilgion applies.
As for your claims of prayer completely healing a person I’m sorry but I will not take the word of someone I don’t know posting as fact on a forum and believe it to be true. I find the whole concept to be extrodiarily unlikely and would need a signiciate amount of proof before I would consider you to have the correct answer.
“WHy does it bother you that God loves His children so much?”
It doesn’t bother me at all actually. What I find difficult is to believe in him at all.
“Again you say that we are arguing. We have no reason to argue nor should we. All I desire to do is offer Christ to you.”
This is the problem, you desire to offer Christ to me and fail to see my side of it. Sometimes all I want is for you to not offer Christ to me.
“Think about it, If you were drowning and I threw you a life preserver, would I be worried about trying to prove to you that it was real? No, I would simply be offering you a hand from the kindness of my heart. Blessings to you all and I pray you soon understand the truth”
I believe your analogy here is flawed in the context you are trying to use it. From our pespective we are also trying to offer you a life preserver and you ask us to prove that it is true. So good luck to you and I hope soo you will understand the truth.
Cheers
Simon Bond
p.s. I apologise for this post being all over the place and not at my usual standard but I am a little short on time and just wrote it down as it came out. Normally I like to give a little thought to how I phrase things to ensure that my message is clear and understandable.