Never Ever Ever, Like Ever

Illustration by Tim Sheaffer (Vanity Fair).

Never Ever Ever, Like Ever: What the Billboard Charts are telling us about culture on this day

As of today, Taylor Swift’s “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” is the number one song on Billboard’s “Top 100”. In 2012 she became Billboard’s “Woman of the Year”.  What’s the message that makes her number one? For starters, the message is clear: grammar don’t matter. Never ever ever, like ever. 

If you have followed my blog for very long, you know I never ever ever agree with Christopher Hitchens, like ever. But, back in 2010, he wrote an article for Vanity Fair criticizing the new use of the word like. “Since, like, the 60s, and definitely since Clueless, one word has been, like, everywhere.” 

Dad, It's Been a Month Since You've Been Gone

Dad, It's Been a Month Since You've Been Gone: And that puts me on a morning train

Today makes it one month since my dad died. He died. He did not pass on, pass away, or move on to the other side. He died and that is the reality of it all. He did profess faith in Jesus in the weeks leading up to his death, but there is no way around the ugly fact that it was death. Too often we skirt around that language to make things more bearable, but I am afraid that when we do so we are trying to cover up reality. Reality tells us that death is real and it is real because of sin.

My dad would not have denied being a sinner. Matter of fact that was the biggest obstacle for him to profess faith in Christ (from his perspective). He feared that he sinned too much, that his offenses were too great to be forgiven. And that very view point is sin as well. Paul says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (Romans 1:18 ESV).”

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

He has shown his people the power of his works 

in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

- Psalm 111:6

The opening verses of the book of Psalms reads: “Blessed is the man… [whose] delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night,” (1:1a, 2). Recently my small group went through JD Greear’s “Gospel Revolution” study. This is one of the key points Greear brings up throughout the study. Our obedience should not be primarily out of obligation (though we are obligated), but a result of desire, or as the Psalmist says, “delight.”